A Jinchuriki's Strength
by NaruDeeds
Summary: Sequel to "A Jinchuriki's Husk." Follow Naruto and Sakura as they move closer to their destinies and fight Kabuto and his edo-tensei army. Will their love be enough to get them through these turbulent times and will they be able to save the world?
1. A Test

Woohoo! Finally, the sequel to "A Jinchuriki's Husk" has begun. You can read this story and understand everything without reading husk, but I highly recommend reading through husk first so you'll completely understand everything. The summary for this one is kinda poor, but meh, oh well. The story will be an entertaining read, believe it! Thanks to everyone who read a Jinchuriki's Husk and favorited it and reviewed. I hope you enjoy the second part of this tale!

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would've dropped his Sasuke henge and kissed Sakura's forehead all those days back! And Lee would have a green jumpsuit wearing, overly energetic and youthful girlfriend.

Alright, let's get this show started.

Please do enjoy, "A Jinchuriki's Strength"- Chapter 1: A Test

* * *

A blonde haired man with short spiky hair and sapphire blue eyes sprinted across a temple courtyard with a look of pure terror on his face. A furious woman was on his heels with emerald eyes and long pink hair tied back in a ponytail.

"NARUTO! STOP RUNNING RIGHT NOW!" The emerald-eyed girl bellowed.

Naruto looked over his shoulder and tried to calm his pursuer down. "Ne, sorry Sakura-chan! It was just guy talk. Remember, I'm the savior of the world, you can't kill me yet!"

"I AM NOT GOING TO LET YOU GET AWAY WITH THIS ERO BAKA!" Sakura yelled. Her eyes were now just white.

_Flashback_

_Naruto and Sakura were taking a break from their respective trainings and eating lunch together. The two lovers had been training at the temple in Lightning Country for nearly a year now, and both were much stronger._

_Naruto had mastered the hirashin and had almost fully mastered sage mode. He could now draw in nature chakra while he's running. His focus still isn't good enough to gather it in the middle of a fight, but the jinchuriki is getting there much to the great frog sage Fukasaku's surprise._

_Sakura had met a genjutsu specialist and had spent the year working on her genjutsus during the day. She was probably even better than Kurenai with genjutsus now. She had also been working on mastering the chakra scalpel technique during her free time._

_The temple didn't have extravagant food, nor did it even have ramen (much to Naruto's dismay and Sakura's delight). The happy couple sat side by side eating a simple meal of rice, assorted vegetables and meat._

"_Oi… Sakura-san." A young man who studied at the temple greeted as he appeared out of nowhere._

_Naruto instantly began sweating nervously when the boy greeted Sakura, something that did not escape the kunoichi's notice. The jinchuriki shot the young man a death glare._

"_What is it Mizuki-san?" The Godaime's apprentice greeted, deciding to ignore whatever the cause of her boyfriend's nervousness was… for now…_

"_I was wondering something… How do you tell a lover that you don't like it when she's in control all the time?" Mizuki innocently asked._

_Naruto was now a human waterfall as sweat poured from his body, his skin paling in color._

_Sakura eyed her pale boyfriend before looking back at the young temple student. "And why are you asking me this Mizuki-san…" she replied in a dangerous tone._

_Naruto's eyes were now pleading with Mizuki to shut the hell up._

"_Oh… well Naruto-san told us you liked to be in control during intimate moments. So I figured if I ask a woman who likes to be in control how to politely tell another woman who likes to be in control…"_

"_NARUTO WHAT?" Sakura screamed as a blush overtook her face._

"_Damnit Mizuki… I'm not going to be able to save the world if you get me killed at such a young age."_

"_Na-ru-to… did you tell Mizuki and the others about our sex life…" Naruto's emerald-eyed angel growled as she began cracking her knuckles._

"_Ne? Of… of course not Sakura-chan! I would never, that wouldn't be proper. A future hokage would never do such a thing, believe it!" Naruto struck a nice guy pose, hoping to quell his girlfriend's rage._

"_YOU DID DIDN'T YOU. AND NOW YOU'RE LYING TO ME?" The pink-haired kunoichi was now shaking with rage. The Yondaime's legacy knew there was no escape now. He was going to suffer the wrath of Sakura Haruno. But that wouldn't stop the 17 year old from trying to escape his fate._

_Before he could get his head bashed in, the jinchuriki took off sprinting across the courtyard. Sakura wasn't about to let her boyfriend escape, and was quickly right behind him._

_FLASH IN_

An old man and an old frog watched as one of the most powerful men in the world fled for his life from a small pink-haired woman.

"This never gets old. Seeing the cocky and extremely powerful Naruto I know from watching his training run for his life from Sakura. I really think she's the only thing that truly scares him." The old master of the temple chuckled.

"Well Sakura is Tsunade's apprentice. I wouldn't want to take a punch from her either." Fukasaku laughed.

"So tell me Lord Fukasaku, how close is Naruto to mastering sage mode? I fear those two are going to be needed soon."

"It's hard to say really. Naruto-chan has already done what I deemed impossible. He could master it tomorrow, or it could be a year from now. Naruto is in uncharted territories in senjutsu now."

WHAM! A dust cloud rose from where Sakura had driven Naruto into the ground with a chakra enhanced fist.

"Sakura-chaaaaan…" The blonde whined.

"Serves you right Naruto." The pinkette huffed before picking him up from the ground and placing a glowing green hand on his head.

* * *

"Report Kakashi!" The Godaime Hokage ordered.

"It seems Kabuto has mastered the edo-tensei like Orochimaru before him. But we only ever saw Orochimaru use the technique to revive a few people at once. Kabuto has revived a small army, including the deceased members of the Akatsuki."

"Are you certain?" Tsunade questioned hoping that Kakashi was just joking. _This is bad…_

"Hai… I visually confirmed Itachi, Nagato, Kakuzu and Deidara, but there were many more. But I couldn't risk sticking around any longer or else I would've been caught." The copy nin confirmed.

"Shikamaru, what are your thoughts on the situation?" Tsunade asked the lazy genius, standing in the corner of her office.

"This is troublesome… We know that Kabuto allied himself with Madara so the undead army will probably be turned upon us. To make matters worse, a person revived with the edo-tensei can't be killed. Our only two options for fighting them are either to seal their souls or kill Kabuto himself."

"It won't be easy to get to Kabuto. He usually has a lot of revived shinobi around him. I'm not sure if we currently have anyone in the entire ninja alliance strong enough to get to him." Kakashi said gravely.

"Then we need to bring Naruto back." Tsunade stated. "He was powerful when he left, I can only imagine how powerful he got while doing nothing but training for nearly a year."

"I thought you wanted to wait until his training was complete to bring him back? Don't forget Tsunade-sama, Naruto is the only one who can stand against Madara. Bringing him back early may be good for the short term, but could prove disastrous in the long term." Shikamaru cautioned.

"If we don't get Naruto back soon, there isn't going to be any long term Shikamaru. There's only one reason Kabuto would raise such a massive undead army… War." Kakashi said calmly.

"Kakashi's right. Send a messenger falcon to the Lightning Temple right away. It's time for Naruto to return home." Tsunade ordered.

* * *

Naruto dodged a jab from his opponent. The temple monk quickly reacted by sending a kick towards the jinchuriki's face. The blonde leapt backwards, trying to draw nature chakra in, while focusing on his fight.

WHAP!

Fukasaku whapped Naruto on the head with his stick as soon as the jinchuriki showing signs of transforming into a toad statue. The Yondaime's legacy didn't have much time to think as he ducked his head to avoid shuriken.

"That's enough for now Naruto." Called the old master of the temple. "You seem to still be having a lot of difficult gathering nature chakra in the middle of a fight."

"Ya… I can't really devote much of my focus to gathering nature chakra, or else my opponent would easily have the upper hand. I was hoping that if I trained enough my body could just subconsciously absorb nature chakra without me having to focus on it…"

"Perhaps it's time to think of an alternative way to remain in stage mode indefinitely?" The master asked.

"I can't really think of any other way to do it in the middle of a fight. During my fight with Pain I kept three kage bunshins in Mount Myoboku, but that severely limited the number of kage bunshins I could create in battle. I don't think I can afford that disadvantage against Madara…"

"Well take a break from your training from now. We're running low on supplies and I would like for you to go into town and pick them up. They should have everything ready at the inn in town. There are a lot of supplies, so you might want to take some scrolls with you to seal everything into. While you're walking there, try to think of alternative ways to stay in sage mode."

"Hai." Naruto walked towards the temple's gate, completely lost in thought as he thought of alternative ways to stay in sage mode indefinitely.

* * *

"So you know where Naruto has been hiding Kabuto?" Madara Uchiha asked.

"He hasn't necessarily been hiding Madara-sama. My sources say he's spent the past year training at the temple in Lightning Country.

"Konoha risked sending him out of the village? He's been away from Konoha protection all this time?" Madara fumed.

"Yes, although he's not alone. The girl that killed Sasuke-kun went with him, Sakura Haruno. And the Lightning Temple is very well defended; the monks there should not be underestimated."

"Then send your army there at once. Naruto was too weak to be a threat to my plans when I fought him last year, but he is the son of the Yondaime Hokage. If he's given enough time, he will surely become strong enough to become a problem." The ancient Uchiha ordered.

"That would be unwise. An assault from a massive force would result in massive casualties, and it would take too much time to get to Naruto-kun." Kabuto replied matter of factly.

"From the way you say that, I'm guessing you already have some sort of plan?"

"Of course. While an army couldn't get to Naruto quick, one elite ninja could infiltrate the temple and ambush him before any of the temple monks can react."

"So who did you send then?" Madara asked.

Kabuto smirked. "Naruto-kun is going to get to have a reunion with Itachi."

* * *

Naruto walked the path towards the village. If he wasn't so distracted by figuring out how to master sage mode, he would probably appreciate the beauty of the forest he was walking through. Tall, majestic trees stood proudly shading the forest floor from the hot sun.

But Naruto took no notice.

_Maybe I can create a kage bunshin in the beginning of my fight to hide and gather nature chakra. Then whenever I have to dispel it to replenish my nature chakra, I can summon another one. It would still limit the number of kage bunshins in a fight, but I still would be able to use more than I can with three clones at Mount Myoboku, and I wouldn't have to worry about summoning the clones._

The jinchuriki continued pondering the idea, oblivious to the fact that he was being watched.

* * *

Itachi's lifeless eyes stared at the blonde jinchuriki as he walked through the forest. The undead Uchiha's eyes were no longer sharingans, Kabuto informed him that Sasuke had taken them.

_Sasuke…_ Kabuto had also told Itachi of his brother's demise. _If only I could've kept Madara away from you brother… _Itachi still didn't know how Madara survived the amaterasu he placed in Sasuke's eyes..._  
_

He did not want to do what he was about to do, but he had no control over his body. He was simply Kabuto's puppet now. He formed handsigns, focusing on the genjutsu he was about to place on the boy. If what Kabuto told him was true, this would be very painful for Naruto.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Ah Itachi-san, welcome back... so nice to see you again." Kabuto greeted with a sickenly sweet grin as Itachi stepped out of the coffin._

"_I see you've learned the edo-tensei like your master before you." Itachi calmly replied._

"_I've surpassed Orichimaru-sama. But we can talk about that later, I have a mission that I'm going to be sending you on. You're going to destroy Naruto Uzumaki."_

_A pang went through Itachi's heart. Naruto had been determined to save his little brother from the darkness and Itachi could not help but be grateful to the boy. And by now, Naruto was probably one of the most powerful shinobi in Konoha. Killing him would most likely be a severe blow to Konoha._

"_But he's much stronger now than he was when you last met. You won't be able to beat him directly, you're going to need to take your little brother's approach." Kabuto explained._

"_Sasuke's approach?" Itachi asked, his normally impassive face showing small signs of curiosity._

"_Had it not been for the interference of the Yondaime, Naruto-kun would be dead right now. Of course, Sasuke's plan got him killed…"_

"_Sasuke's…dead?" Itachi gasped, not able to hide his shock._

"_Yes. His former teammate, Sakura Haruno, killed him when she found out what he did to Naruto. But don't worry, she won't be able to kill you. No one can." Kabuto sneered._

"_I wish she could." Itachi muttered softly._

"_You're going to a cast a genjutsu on Naruto. Sasuke beat him by attacking him mentally. He made Naruto believe that Sakura, the woman he loves, hated him, and viewed him solely as the Kyubi. He broke Naruto with this; the boy was a husk of his former self. Your genjutsu will make Naruto believe that Sakura does actually hate him."_

"_That seems unnecessary. I can defeat Naruto-kun without that genjutsu." Itachi calmly responded._

"_You can't. Naruto-kun has become very powerful. In battle he is nearly unrivaled and he is well on his way to surpassing his father. His love for Sakura Haruno is one of his few weaknesses. She is too powerful herself to easily capture or kill to get to him, which is why the genjutsu is necessary. Once you break Naruto, you can easily kill him." Kabuto said with a grin eerily similar to Orochimaru's grins. "Also, Sasuke-kun took your eyes. So I was unable to revive you with them."_

"_I don't think…"_

"_I'm not giving you an option Itachi." Kabuto's smile was even starting to creep Itachi out. "I am your master now. The only reason I'm allowing you to think and act on your own is because I want you to suffer. You will help destroy Konoha while you are completely aware of what you're doing. Now go to the temple in Lightning Country." Kabuto ordered._

_Itachi wanted to roast Kabuto alive, but his body began moving without his mind's consent._

"_Sorry Naruto-kun." Itachi softly muttered._

_FLASH IN_

Having weaved all the proper hand signs, Itachi paused, trying to stop his body from casting the genjutsu. But his body moved on its own.

"Sorry Naruto…"

* * *

Sakura was panting heavily as she took a break from her training. Catching a glance of Fukasaku, the pink-haired kunoichi walked over to the frog sage with a curious look on her face.

"Lord Fukasaku? Shouldn't you be monitoring Naruto while he trains his sage mode?" Sakura asked in a worried tone. She really didn't want her boyfriend to accidentally transform into a stone toad statue…

"Hello Sakura. Naruto-chan is taking a break from training to go pick up supplies from town." Fukasaku answered with a smile.

"What?" Sakura all but yelled. "Naruto shouldn't be out by himself, what if Madara targets him!"

"Relax Sakura, Naruto-chan is very powerful and he's much wiser than he used to be. Naruto knows he's not strong enough to defeat Madara yet, so even if Madara himself were to confront Naruto, he knows to hirashin here instantly." Fukasaku said, hoping to calm down the worried medinin.

"I don't care! Protecting Naruto is still my mission." Sakura retorted. "I'm going after him. Please tell Ayuri-san that I will be taking a break from genjutsu training as well."

All feelings of exhaustion left Sakura's body as she pushed chakra into her legs and ran towards the temple gate.

* * *

Naruto was walking along the forest path, still pondering how to fully master sage mode. If the jinchuriki wasn't so distracted, he might wonder why he's still in the forest. The blonde haired boy had been walking for a while, and should actually be at the town's gates by now.

"Naruto!" The one voice that could always bring Naruto out of his thoughts called. He stopped and turned around with a smile as he spotted the face of his emerald-eyed angel.

"Sakura-chan? What are you doing here?"

"I came here because I have something I need to tell you baka!" Sakura said, with a smile that matched his present on her face.

"Oh? And this couldn't wait for me to return to the temple?" Naruto asked.

"Nope. I've been putting off telling you this for too long." Sakura replied, still smiling.

"Hehe. And what could you have putting off telling me that you just so happen to be telling me now, the day before our year anniversary?" Naruto said with a smirk.

"Well Naruto… I've been lying to you for a long time now." Sakura's sweet smile still had yet to leave her angelic face.

"What? What are you talking about Sakura-chan?" Naruto's grin fell from his face.

"Do you remember when I begged you to bring Sasuke back to me?"

"Of course Sakura-chan. That's a memory I will never forget." Naruto replied, a frown taking over his face as he thought about Sasuke and his failure to save his former best friend.

"Well Naruto, I asked you to bring Sasuke back to me because I knew how devoted you were to me, and because I had just recently realized just how powerful you truly were." Sakura explained.

Naruto was now regarding Sakura with a curious look. He had no idea where she was going with this, but he was starting to get a bad feeling in the bottom of his gut.

"After you came back, all beat up, that's when the lying started. I told you we would bring Sasuke back together, and I began to truly befriend you. Well, I made you believe I befriended you."

Naruto's legs began to get shaky. _She's going somewhere with this. Sakura loves me… she told me. She wouldn't lie to me…_

"You see, I realized how useful it would be to have a demon as powerful as yourself wrapped around my finger. I could use you to get Sasuke back." Sakura's smile transformed into a smirk.

Naruto stared at Sakura in shock. _This doesn't make sense…_ He blinked back tears that were threatening to form in his eyes.

"But then Madara revealed himself, and I knew there was no one in the world that could beat him, except for you. You're a persistent little demon, and have the unique ability to win battles that you have no business even being in. I realized that for my own survival, I needed to keep you alive… and happy."

Naruto lost the war to his tears, and his eyes began watering up.

"And then Sasuke decided he wanted to kill you. While I wanted to be with Sasuke, if he killed you I would die. So I killed him instead." Sakura went on as her face tugged downwards into a frown. "But then I watched you fight Madara, and he defeated you while just toying with you. I was tempted to give up then... and tell you the truth."

Tears were now freely falling from Naruto's eyes as he dropped to his knees.

"Sa…Sakura-chan… I…"

"But I gave you another chance." Sakura continued, ignoring Naruto's attempt at speaking. "Your unique training method allows you to become more powerful in a short amount of time. So I've spent the last year, pretending to love you, hoping you would show that you can beat Madara. But now I realize… you'll never be able to beat Madara. You're too weak. You are going to fail this world and Madara is going to kill us all."

"I will defeat…"

"You will not Naruto." Sakura again interrupted him. "And since my life is going to be ending soon, I'm going to spend the remainder of my time being as happy as I can. So here's the truth Naruto, I've never liked you, I've never considered you a friend, and I've certainly never loved you. You're a demon. Have fun dying by Madara's hand."

Sakura spun around and began walking back towards the temple without casting another glance at the jinchuriki.

Naruto was on the ground trying to stop his tears as he watched the woman he loves walk away. He put his hands in his hair and began pulling on it while screaming out in agony.

"_YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT ME BREAKING YOU. I WILL NEVER HURT YOU!"_

Sakura's words ran through Naruto's head. _Was Sakura-chan just lying back then? _

"_I told you before, and I will keep on telling you until it finally gets through your thick skull. I love you baka, and I will never again hurt you." _Sakura's words from the night that the two officially became a couple rang through his mind.

Sakura had seemed so genuine that night. She was so determined to start a relationship with him. She wouldn't take no for an answer... no matter how much Naruto resisted.

"_You're my Naruto. You can do anything. And you have me, I won't let you fail. Believe it!"_ Naruto remembered Sakura's words before they entered the Lightning temple for the first time.

His tears came to a complete stop as he stood with a determined look on his face.

"Sakura-chan promised me she would never hurt me... she believes in me. She would never think I can't beat Madara." Naruto called out to the seemingly empty forest.

"Just as Sakura believes in me, I believe in her! She would never say that to me, Sakura loves me!"

Naruto flared his chakra, and put his hands into the cross seal.

"KAI!" Naruto bellowed at the top of his lungs, he was going to make whoever cast this genjutsu on him pay.

* * *

"KAI!" Sakura instantly recognized Naruto's voice_, _it sounded like it came from pretty far away. _Someone is attacking him! No no no, this isn't good._

Sakura pushed her chakra into the chakra seal over her heart that Naruto had put on her.

_Come on Naruto, just flash to me. Then we can fight whoever is after you together…_

_

* * *

_

Naruto looked around and saw that Sakura was no longer in sight. _I think I'm out of that genjutsu…_ _Now to find the bastard who cast that on me…_ Naruto's sapphire eyes transformed into toad-like yellow ones as he entered sage mode.

"Impressive. That genjutsu wasn't as powerful as the ones I used to be able to cast with my sharingan, but it was still powerful enough to make it extremely difficult to break out of. You've improved greatly Naruto-kun." Itachi called as he stepped out from behind a tree.

The jinchuriki's eyes widened.

"Itachi? How the hell are you here? Sasuke killed you!" He gasped.

"Kabuto revived with me with the edo-tensei. I'm here to kill you Naruto. I'm sorry, but I don't have control over my own body."

Naruto's body tensed as he prepared to battle one of the most powerful shinobi Konoha had ever produced. Before either combatant could make a move, Naruto felt a warm tug which told him that Sakura was calling him.

_Sakura-chan!_

"Sorry Itachi, but it looks like our fight is going to be delayed. I'm needed elsewhere." Naruto apologized as he tossed a three-pronged kunai to the ground.

"I see you've learned your father's hirashin." The undead Uchiha observed.

Naruto nodded. "Stay here, I'll be back for you as soon as I can." The Yondaime's legacy disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Sakura breathed in relief as she felt her entire body fill with a warm feeling as her seal activated. Her knucklehead suddenly flashed directly in front of her.

"Sakura-chan! Are you ok?" He asked worriedly as his toad-like eyes searched her body for even the slightest injury.

"I should be asking you that baka! Here I find that you went out by yourself, then when I'm trying to catch up to you I hear you screaming kai. So that means someone must've placed you in a genjutsu. Are you ok?" She replied. Her emerald eyes were filled with just as much concern as her boyfriend's as she carefully watched him, looking for any sign of mental distress that may have resulted from the genjutsu.

Naruto sighed, he wasn't sure he wanted to tell Sakura the truth. He dropped his sage mode causing his eyes to return to their normal sapphire blue.

"I'm fine. It was just a bandit who thought he was hot stuff because he could use genjutsus." The blonde lied with a grin.

Sakura wasn't fooled. Her medically trained eyes easily spotted the exhaustion in his sapphire eyes, and the red puffiness surrounding them.

"So a bandit who was able to use weak genjutsus was able to put you in a genjutsu that made you cry? I'm not buying it for a second baka." Sakura cupped Naruto's face with her hands. "Tell me the truth now." She ordered.

"Well… don't freak out… But Itachi placed the genjutsu on me." Naruto confessed as he stared into the beautiful eyes of his girlfriend.

"WHAT? Itachi's dead Naruto." Sakura channeled chakra into her hands and into Naruto's body, he was obviously still under some sort of genjutsu.

"He said that Kabuto revived him with the edo-tensei… And that he was ordered to kill me."

"Kabuto can use the edo-tensei? We need to let Tsunade-shishou know about this right away. Sakura dropped her hands from Naruto's cheeks and took his hand into hers.

"Come on, we're going back to the temple. There's no way I'm going to let you go to the town if Itachi is out here trying to kill you. If he's been revived with the edo-tensei then there is no way we can kill him." Sakura began walking back towards the temple, but was stopped by Naruto.

"No Sakura-chan…" He said softly. "I heard it in his voice, Itachi doesn't want to kill me, Kabuto has control of his body. I'm much stronger than he is now, and he doesn't seem to have the sharingan anymore. I can beat him… I can free him from his cursed fate. And besides… if I don't stop him, he'll kill innocent people to get to me."

"No." Sakura replied. Her voice left no room for argument as she used her chakra enhanced strength to literally drag her boyfriend back to the temple. Naruto sighed. _Sakura's going to kill me for this later…_

"I'm sorry Sakura… but I have to do this." The hand Sakura was holding was suddenly replaced by a log. The Godaime's apprentice looked at her boyfriend with a look of both fury and worry.

"NA-RU-TO!" She yelled as she shot pink chakra chains toward the jinchuriki. Before the chains could land, Naruto disappeared in a flash, reappearing right behind her.

"Please forgive me for this Sakura-chan. Don't worry, I won't die... I promise." The jinchuriki embraced Sakura from behind and kissed her neck.

"I'll be back soon."

The Yondaime's legacy disappeared in a flash.

Panic set in as Sakura looked around for her boyfriend. _He… he went back to fight Itachi…_

"NARUTO!" She yelled as loud as she could in a panicked tone. She channeled chakra into her seal, trying to call her knucklehead back to her.

Tears were streaming down her face as she took off in the direction she had heard his voice earlier.

_I'm not going to let Itachi kill you… I have no idea how I'm going to stop the edo tensei, but to protect you I will find a way…_

Sakura began moving so fast that to the untrained eye, she would appear to be nothing more than a pink blur.

* * *

Itachi was surprised to say the least. Kabuto had not been kidding when he said Naruto had grown much stronger since the last time the two met.

_He broke through one of my more powerful genjutsus. And not just that, but a genjutsu that was designed to break him. If possible, Naruto has become even more confident since our last meeting._

Itachi wasn't exactly sure how he would be able to beat Naruto now that the boy could use the hirashin, especially without the sharingan. Instead of being worried, that thought actually relieved the undead Uchiha.

Naruto had been gone for a couple of minutes, and Itachi was beginning to wonder where the blonde had gone off to. Before he could give it further thought, the boy he was supposed to kill flashed in front of him.

"Welcome back, I trust you've taken care of whatever it was that came up?"

Naruto chuckled. "Well… even after I beat you, I think you'll still end up getting me killed. Sakura is going to be pretty mad at me…"

Itachi actually smiled at the jinchuriki. "You're going to beat me? So you've figured out a way to beat the edo-tensei? I doubt you're going to use the death god, because you still need to defeat Madara."

Naruto grinned back at his opponent. "Hehe, I have no idea how to beat the edo-tensei. But that doesn't matter. I'll figure out a way to beat you. I'm stronger now than you were when you were alive. You especially won't stand a chance against me now that you don't have your sharingan eyes and I have the hirashin."

Itachi sighed, but the smile was still present on his face. "I'll keep on attacking you, and eventually even you will start to tire out."

"It takes a lot to wear me out, you won't last long enough." The blonde retorted with a smirk.

"We shall see." Itachi replied. "My body is going to start attacking you now Naruto-kun. Prepare yourself."

Naruto responded by throwing a smoke bomb. In the cover of the smoke, the jinchuriki entered sage mode and summoned a kage bunshin. The bunshin burrowed itself into the ground, and began drawing in nature chakra.

The smoke dissipated and Naruto stared down Itachi with his toad-like eyes, with a three-pronged kunai in his hand.

The jinchuriki threw the kunai toward his undead opponent and disappeared in a flash.

* * *

Wooo! First chapter down! I'm not sure if the edo-tensei revived Itachi with his sharingan eyes in the manga, but logically I don't think it would. If the edo-tensei can revive sharingan eyes after they've been taken from the corpse, then Kabuto could give all of his undead army sharingans by continually taking Itachi's eyes, then reviving him again. So even if the manga proves me wrong, I'll stick to this. Logic ftw.

Let me know what you thought of the first chapter by leaving a review! Thanks for reading, and stay tuned next week for chapter 2!


	2. A Good Team

Alright. I finally got the 2nd chapter up. I apologize for the delay, but I've been sick this past week and can't really stare at a computer screen for overly long...

As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/alerts.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed last time: Echo Uchiha, Toasty Warrior, saveme57, ZeroTail29, Lunar-Ice-Wolf, maxslayer10, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, maliousdei, Nutt Man 117, DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, jackseaweedjackson, dbzgtfan2004, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith, KrackerJak, Jozern, Blazing CobaltX, Darkrebel9

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Echo Uchiha: =) Rhymes ftw!

Toasty Warrior: Itachi didn't have much of a choice, and I'm glad too. I hate writing emo-Naruto =P

saveme57: Thanks =) I hope you enjoy this chapter!

ZeroTail29: I'm glad you enjoyed it! This story is going to be all about mastering sage mode. The third and final part will have Naruto learning/mastering his "jinchuriki mode." (I can't recall the exact name off the top of my head..)

Lunar-Ice-Wolf: =) Glad you enjoyed the first chapter!

maxslayer10: Thanks! =)

Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: The Kyubi is actually going to make a rare appearance this chapter!

maliousdei: Ding ding ding. He now trusts Sakura to the point where he won't believe she would ever hurt him =)

Nutt Man 117: You'd figure Naruto would learn not to draw Sakura's wrath by now. Silly jinchuriki =P

jackseaweedjackson: Thanks =) I hope you enjoy this chapter as well!

dbzgtfan2004: /e salutes

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: =) Ya... Naruto isn't always the smartest person in the world. He better beg for mercy once Sakura reaches him =P

KrackerJak: Hahaha =P And don't forget that Naruto is terrible with genjutsus, I think that he was able to recognize being in a genjutsu and break out of is testament to his faith in Sakura!

Jozern: Thanks =) Glad you enjoyed!

Blazing CobaltX: Nah, Naruto had to pass his test. Besides, writing emo Naruto is not a fun time =P

Darkrebel9: I'm glad you enjoyed "A Jinchuriki's Husk" =) The genjutsu was used to show how much Naruto had grown since Husk and was used as a transition between the two stories =) Hehe, I don't count your comments as flames. You're giving me your honest opinion which I truly appreciate =) I don't think I'll have any OC's in this part, except maybe introducing the new Akatsuki members near the end of this one. But thanks though!

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Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would've gotten to interact with Minato more when he redid the Kyubi's seal. Also, Kakashi would have some sort of love interest!

Now, onwards to the second chapter! Please do enjoy, "A Jinchuriki's Strength" - Chapter 2: A Good Team

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Itachi's lifeless eyes watched as Naruto threw one of his father's kunais at him, and then disappear in a flash. Right before Itachi could bat the three-pronged kunai away with a kunai of his own, Naruto flashed directly to the kunai with a blue swirling sphere in his hand.

"RASENGAN!" Itachi looked down in shock as the swirling sphere tore into his stomach and sent him flying backwards into a tree.

The undead Uchiha calmly picked himself up, as his body began repairing itself.

"Your timing with the hirashin is impressive Naruto-kun. Unfortunately it is impossible to kill me. No matter how good you are with that technique, you cannot beat the edo tensai."

Naruto smirked as he summoned a shadow clone. "Let's put that to the test." The jinchuriki held out his hand, and with his clone's help formed a rasenshuriken.

"As much as I would like to prolong this fight to test just how much I've grown this past year, I'm already in enough trouble with Sakura-chan as it is. I'm going to put an end to you now before she gets here, then I can try to play dumb."

Before Itachi could respond, Naruto whipped the rasenshuriken at the Uchiha. Itachi jumped to the left and barely avoided the attack, but his eyes widened in surprise when the rasenshuriken expanded and exploded. The undead man was thankful that Kabuto's technique prevented him from feeling pain as he watched tiny microscopic wind blades cut his very chakra network to pieces.

* * *

Sakura swore at her boyfriend as she ran through the forest. _After I get you away from Itachi I'm going to make you regret being a baka…_ Sakura's fist tightened and she pushed more chakra into her legs.

The sound of a explosion went off a little ways in front her. Sakura leapt high into the air and saw a familiar explosion of wind chakra.

_The rasenshuriken…_ Sakura sped towards the explosion. _Just be ok baka… I'll be there soon._

_

* * *

_

Naruto stared at the crater where Itachi's motionless body lay. _Shit, I can feel Sakura-chan's chakra. She's close… Hopefully she didn't see the explosion from my rasenshuriken… _Naruto started to walk towards Sakura's chakra signature.

"Impressive technique, I can see how that technique was able to beat Kakuzu. Unfortunately for you, it seems that the edo tensei can even heal even damage to my chakra network, it was a good thought though Naruto-kun."

"No way…" Naruto muttered as he turned around. As the jinchuriki feared, Itachi was walking out of the crater, his body putting itself back together.

"You should run away from me Naruto. You are now more powerful than me, but you cannot beat me. Don't throw your life away here, you're the only one who can beat Madara." Itachi advised, his body almost fully repaired.

"No… I can and will beat you. I can free you." Naruto replied as his fist tightened. _Damnit… Even with my increased training, I can only use the rasenshuriken five times before I drop out of sage mode… My clone seems to be doing fine, so for now I can depend on it to restore my nature chakra…_

"I appreciate the thought Naruto, but you cannot. Now hurry up and get out of here. The only reason I'm not attacking you right now is because I'm resisting Kabuto's control, but I'm not going to be able to resist much longer."

"No…" Naruto growled stubbornly. "I know the truth. I know why you slaughtered the Uchiha. I know why you joined the Akatsuki, and I know why you spared Sasuke. You don't deserve this; you're a hero of Konoha. I will save you."

Itachi sighed. "Still overly stubborn I see. Very well, prepare yourself, I'm about to lose control."

_How am I going to beat him… I could try the kage bunshin hirashin ring… But if he survived the rasenshuriken, I doubt that will stop him._

"Katon" Itachi's voice interrupted Naruto's thoughts. "Gokyaku no Jutsu." The undead Uchiha launched a massive fireball towards the jinchuriki. Naruto leapt into the air to dodge the fireball, but Itachi quickly appeared behind him.

_He's fast…_ The startled jinchuriki thought as Itachi's fist flew towards the back of his head. The blonde disappeared in a flash, reappearing next to the kunai he had thrown at the beginning of the fight.

"I forgot how fast you were Itachi. But you can't beat me with speed now." Naruto confidently called out. Before the future hokage could boast further, Itachi appeared behind him and elbowed him in the back.

_Damnit… He uses kage bunshins too…_ Naruto skidded across the ground a few feet before he used a hand to flip himself up into the air and safely land on the ground. _I need to buy some time to figure out how to beat him… I could use the kage bunshin hirashin ring. There's no way he would be able to touch me, but if I just keep flashing around that would use up a lot of chakra…_

Itachi flickered in front of Naruto, and launched a kick at the side of the jinchuriki. Naruto caught the undead man's foot, jumped into the air and twisted his body to throw Itachi into the ground with his sage-enhanced strength.

Before the Uchiha could react, a three pronged kunai thudded into his shoulder. In a yellow flash, Naruto was before Itachi with a large rasengan that was being orbited by several smaller rasengan orbs.

"FUTON: GENSHI RASENGAN!" The blonde roared slamming his atomic rasengan into the undead Uchiha's body.

The main orb began tearing apart Itachi's chest as the smaller orbs continued rotating randomly tearing into the rest of his body.

Naruto leapt backwards as his newest rasengan exploded. _That should buy me some…_ A volley of shuriken embedded themselves into his back. Naruto's shocked eyes glanced behind him to see Itachi throwing more shuriken at him as his body regenerated.

_What the…_ Naruto was too surprised to dodge the shurikens that were flying towards him. Before the shurikens could hit him, the earth rumbled and an earth wall rose in front of him, which protected him from the deadly weapons.

Before he knew it, the shuriken were being picked out of his back.

"I told you not to fight Itachi you baka. But you ignore me, and what sight am I greeted by when I finally make it to you? You with a bunch of shurikens sticking out of your back, and more shurikens headed towards you to finish you off." Sakura growled in annoyance, but Naruto caught the concerned tone in her voice.

"Ne… sorry Sakura-chan. He just caught me off guard with a genjutsu there." Naruto replied as he felt his girlfriend's soothing chakra heal his shuriken wounds.

"If it isn't the woman who killed my little brother." Itachi called out, interrupting the pair. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to protect him from Madara."

"If it makes you feel any better… he thanked me for stopping him just before he died." Sakura replied, her eyes finding the dead eyes of Itachi for the first time.

"So he was saved in death… That's good." Itachi mused with a small smile on his face. His face returned to its impassive look quickly. "Hopefully you can talk some sense into Naruto-kun here. He refuses to flee from this battle."

"I won't back down!" Naruto growled as his fists tightened. "I WILL save you."

"Naruto…" Sakura said softly as she placed her hand on his cheek. "Let's say that you somehow manage to stop him, what's to stop Kabuto from reviving him with the edo tensei again?

"I… I don't know Sakura-chan." Naruto replied as he stared into the emerald eyes of the woman he loved. "But that's not going to stop me from trying!"

Sakura sighed. "Sorry Itachi, but it looks like we're not going anywhere. This baka is too stubborn for his own good. Once he sets his mind on something, he refuses to stop."

"This is unfortunate… Naruto I know you can counter my speed with your hirashin, but can you say the same for your girlfriend?"

Naruto looked at the undead Uchiha, eyes full of confidence. "Don't worry about Sakura-chan, she'll be just fine."

A warmth filled Sakura's body as she smiled at her boyfriend. He always had complete confidence in her, she shuddered to think where her confidence would be without his presence in her life.

"I see… Well you two should prepare yourselves then, I'm about to lose control again."

"Sakura-chan… I was wondering if you would mind staying at the edge of this fight."

"What? Why? I thought you had faith that I'll be fine." Sakura huffed as she fought the urge to bash her knucklehead into the ground.

"I do, but Itachi uses a lot of genjutsus, and many of them are so subtle I don't realize what they are. You can tell me when I'm under a genjutsu, and you can observe Itachi. Maybe with your medinin knowledge you'll be able to spot some sort of weakness of the edo tensei."

"Fine." Sakura grunted. He didn't want her out of the way because he was afraid she would get hurt, he was actually thinking strategically. "But I'm not just going to stand around and do nothing." The Godaime's apprentice leapt backwards away from her knucklehead.

Itachi flickered out of sight, reappearing right behind her. Sakura dodged his strike and a warm feeling went through her body as Naruto flashed to the seal on her body. Itachi's dead eyes betrayed his surprise as Naruto caught him upside the jaw with a powerful uppercut sending the undead Uchiha flying into the air.

Naruto flickered out of sight and appeared right in Itachi's flight path. A powerful kick to the Uchiha's back sent him straight down into the ground. Naruto flung a three pronged kunai right next to Itachi's side and flashed down to the Uchiha.

Naruto crouched by Itachi's side and placed his hand on the Uchiha's shoulder. "Now that Sakura has entered the fight, I think it's time I stop holding back." The jinchuriki removed his hand from Itachi's shoulder, leaving a seal in its place.

Itachi's dead eyes regarded the seal with a curious look.

"Hirashin level two." Naruto explained as he formed a rasengan in the same hand that had just placed the seal. "You've lost."

Naruto went to slam his rasengan into Itachi, but the Uchiha replaced himself with a log. The undead Uchiha flickered behind Sakura and impaled her neck with a kunai. To his surprise, the girl simply turned into a swirl of cherry blossom petals.

"A genjutsu…" Itachi muttered. He didn't have much time to ponder the new development as Naruto flashed to him and sent a knee into the Uchiha's gut which forced Itachi to double over. The jinchuriki quickly followed up with a punch to the back of Itachi's head, flattening the man against the ground. Naruto threw four kunai into each of Itachi's arms and legs to prevent the undead man from moving.

"Naruto that's a genjutsu!" Sakura called as Itachi's body transformed into crows, which began swarming around him. Before the crows could overtake him, Naruto flashed to the real Itachi and rewarded the Uchiha for his genjutsu by again knocking him to the ground. For the second time, Naruto bound Itachi to the ground by impaling his arms and legs with kunai.

"Sakura-chan, have you figured out a way to stop him yet?" The blonde called over his shoulder to his girlfriend.

Sakura walked up next to him and peered down at Itachi. "I'm sorry Naruto, but I haven't seen anything. I really don't think we can beat him."

"Damnit…"

Naruto looked into Itachi's eyes, and swore as the brother of his deceased best friend again substituted himself with a log. Naruto felt Itachi's cold hand grab his arm and fling him towards a tree. The jinchuriki instantly flashed to Itachi's side and stabbed a kunai clean through his neck.

Unphased, Itachi twisted around and caught Naruto in the gut with his knee. Kunai in hand, Itachi slashed the blonde's throat with a kunai. To the Uchiha's surprise, Naruto disappeared in a large red flame.

"You've gotten to be quite good with genjutsus girl." Itachi complimented Sakura as Naruto reappeared behind him, putting him in a full nelson lock.

"You two make a good team. Naruto is strong enough to keep the enemy engaged while you use your mastery in genjutsu, which just so happens to be one of Naruto's few weaknesses, to help Naruto from a somewhat safe distance. You are also able to heal him if he should get hurt in battle, and with your strength you can attack from a distance by punching and stomping the ground." The undead Uchiha observed in his monotone voice.

"But that's not what makes you such a powerful team. Naruto seems to have found a way to hirashin to you making you nearly untouchable. His stamina makes him a perfect guardian. Your excellent chakra control allows you to not just tell Naruto when he's in a genjutsu, but you can also easily channel your chakra into him dispelling that genjutsu. You both compliment each others' weaknesses perfectly." Itachi complimented.

Sakura's eyes widened as she recognized the position Naruto had Itachi in. _Channel chakra into him… That's it!_

_FLASHBACK_

"_Then I thought… so that's how it is. Well it's just perfect since I can't move." Naruto said with a grin to a horde of children surrounding him. Sakura smiled softly at her blonde teammate. 'He's so great with kids…' She thought. Naruto was so busy after saving the village that she hadn't really had a chance to get the full details of his fight with Pain. She listened eagerly as the powerful blonde continued._

"_I closed my eyes and let my body go limp as I remained perfectly still, drawing nature chakra into my body, which the the Preta Pain restraining me absorbed from me._

"_Upon seeing my body go limp, that idiot Pain thought that I was submitting. Instead, I opened my eyes with a grin as Preta Pain's body began to transform." A cocky smirk was present on Naruto's face. Sakura, not fully understanding nature chakra failed to see the significance and looked on questioningly as her favorite knucklehead continued._

"_Instead I opened my eyes and said, you know, nature chakra is really hard to control. That stupid Preta Pain restraining me transformed into a stone statue!" All of the children "oohed" and stared at the village's savior with awe-filled eyes._

_Sakura looked at the jinchuriki with a proud look on her face. "Leave it to Naruto to come up with a surprisingly ingenious method of getting out of a seemingly impossible situation." She whispered to Ino who was standing next to her. _

_FLASH IN_

"Naruto!" Sakura called out. "Remember how you defeated Preta Pain? Try that on him!"

"I can't do that Sakura-chan, Preta Pain was absorbing the chakra from my body, Itachi is not." Naruto answered with a disappointed look in his eyes.

"Treat it like you're channeling your chakra into someone to break them out of a genjutsu, except use nature chakra into him instead of your chakra." The pink-haired girl explained.

"Sakura-chan… you know I'm not very good with that." The blonde replied as Itachi struggled against him. Sakura walked up to Itachi and used her chakra scalpel to sever all the tendons in his arms and legs, rendering him temporarily paralyzed while the edo tensei worked to repair his body.

"You can do it Naruto. I believe in you." Sakura shot her boyfriend a confident smile, which in turn elicited a smile from the future hokage himself.

"YOSH! I'll do it Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled in a tone eerily similar to Guy and Lee's. The jinchuriki closed his eyes and began channeling nature chakra into Itachi. _Come on… focus…_ The blonde thought as a bead of sweat dropped down his forehead.

Itachi felt the nature chakra entering his body and smiled. His body instinctively attempted to control the nature chakra. For now Naruto simply wasn't able to channel the chakra into him quick enough to overwhelm the former Uchiha prodigy.

"You need to channel more into him Naruto! He's managing to control the chakra!" Sakura said nervously as an orange hue began to surround Itachi's eyes.

_Kuso! _Naruto thought as he felt Itachi getting stronger. His body had nearly fully recovered from Sakura's chakra scalpel. The jinchuriki dispelled his clone he had burrow under the ground at the beginning of the fight, replenishing his nature chakra.

Naruto gritted his teeth and began pushing all of his nature chakra into Itachi's body. With Naruto's poor chakra control, only a small amount was channeled into the undead Uchiha's body.

"You're doing it!" Sakura cheered as Itachi's body began to transform.

"You're free now Itachi." Naruto whispered to the Uchiha as the nature chakra overwhelmed him and he transformed into a stone toad statue.

Naruto released the statue from his hold and fell forward as his now sapphire eyes clearly showed his exhaustion. He had channeled every ounce of nature chakra he had in his body, as well as nature chakra he absorbed while restraining the undead man.

Sakura caught him before he could hit the ground.

"You stupid baka!" She yelled, lightly bashing Naruto in the back of his head. "You're lucky you're in such terrible condition or else I would put you in the hospital myself!"

The pink-haired member of team 7 hugged her knuckledhead to her chest and a few stray tears fell into his hair. "Don't you ever do that again. You hear me? I was afraid I was going to lose you." She scolded, stroking the back of his hair.

"Hehe. I can't promise that Sakura-chan. It worked. I've found a way to beat the edo tensei." The blonde replied with a lopsided grin as he pointed towards the toad statue.

Sakura responded by lightly smacking her blonde in the back of his stubborn head. "I would advise against that future Hokage-sama. I will put you in the hospital for weeks if you try it. Now come on, we need to go back to the temple. You're way too exhausted to fight anyone right now and I don't want you to be in any danger."

The Yondaime's legacy smiled as his girlfriend pulled him up, and quickly wrapped her into a hug.

"No need to walk." He boasted, trying to mask the exhaustion that had been present in his voice earlier.

"Naruto, no! You don't…" Sakura growled in annoyance as she felt the all too familiar pull on her body.

"Have enough chakra to use the hirashin right now." Sakura finished. She felt Naruto's body collapse against her. "Naruto? Naruto?"

Sakura looked down at her boyfriend with a look of anger, worry and strangely enough pride. "You baka…" She whispered as she picked him up. "Now you went and gave yourself chakra exhaustion. You're going to be out for a while…"

Sakura sighed as she scooped her knucklehead up bridal style and carried him to their shared room in the temple. Not being the first time the temple attendants had seen Sakura carrying Naruto like this, no one gave her a second glance.

Arriving in their room, Sakura placed the blonde down on their bed and lay down next to him, nuzzling her head into his chest and wrapping her arms around his waist.

"You're lucky I know how to take care of someone suffering from chakra exhaustion or else you be spending the next few days in the hospital instead of our room." Sakura huffed to her unconscious knucklehead.

* * *

"Kakashi, what's the status on the messenger falcon we sent to the Lightning temple?" The hazel-eyed hokage asked one of Konoha's most powerful jonin.

"Well Hokage-sama…" Kakashi drawled flashing an innocent one-eyed smile. "It seems there was a delay in sending the messenger falcon. Shikamaru passed the duty off onto a team of genin whose jonin sensei was out on a mission… The genin were unable to find the falconry so Shikamaru is on his way there right now to send the message."

"Damn lazy kid…" Tsunade growled. "And what kind of ninja doesn't know where our falconry is? Make those genin take a test on all of Konoha's different buildings. If they don't pass the test they have to go through the academy all over again!"

"Hai Hokage-sama." Kakashi replied, as he left the office to find someone to go tell the genin team their fate.

_Damnit… Once news of Kabuto's seemingly invincible undead army spreads, there is going to be a lot of unrest in the village. Naruto… we need you hear as soon as possible to calm down the villagers before they do anything stupid in their panic-induced state…_

_

* * *

_

Sakura lay in bed, softly stroking Naruto's hair. _It's been a day now; you should be waking up soon baka. But you still won't be able to leave bed._ A blush overcame Sakura's face as perverted thoughts swam through her mind. _Damnit… no. He's in condition for __**that**__!_

She frowned at Naruto as she checked his chakra levels. _You should have recovered more chakra by now… I guess transferring nature chakra really took a lot out of you._

A knock on her door interrupted Sakura's thoughts. "Sakura-san?" A man asked on the other side of the door. The Godaime's apprentice huffed in annoyance as she disentangled herself from her unconscious boyfriend, and walked to her door. Opening the door, the kunoichi was greeted by a temple apprentice with an envelope in his hands.

"This just arrived to you from Konoha by falcon." The man explained handing the envelope to her. His duty done, the apprentice turned and walked down the hall.

"Thank you!" Sakura called after the man who simply nodded back in her direction in response.

_This isn't good. Shishou wouldn't use a falcon if this wasn't important. This could be trouble._

The pinkette opened the envelop and unfurled the letter.

_Sakura,_

_We've gotten a report that Kabuto has mastered the edo-tensei. _Sakura smirked. "Gee really?" She sarcastically called out to no one in particular. _He's raised an undead army, and we've confirmed the revival of all of the deceased Akatsuki members._

_We've kept this information from the villagers, but we won't be able to forever. Eventually they will find out about this. With Madara still a threat, and this new undead army I fear the villagers will react poorly. We need Naruto's presence here to reassure them that they are perfectly safe._

_After his fight with Pain, the villagers trust Naruto's strength completely. His presence here will calm down the villagers and will hopefully prevent any panic-induced riots._

_You two need to return immediately. Use Naruto's hirashin instead of going by foot. Not even Naruto can defeat the edo tensei, so I don't want to risk him being attacked by any members of Kabuto's undead army._

_Return immediately._

_Tsunade_

The Godaime's apprentice sighed as she grabbed a piece of paper and began writing.

_Tsunade-sama,_

_We already know of Kabuto's use of the edo tensei; Kabuto revived Itachi and sent him after Naruto. I wanted us to run, because there's no way to beat the edo tensei, but that baka felt bad for Itachi and wanted to free him from Kabuto's control._

_But we figured out a way to stop the edo tensei. Naruto channeled nature chakra into Itachi's body. Thanks to his poor chakra control he had to pour every ounce of nature chakra he had into Itachi so enough would enter his body that he couldn't control it._

_As a result, Naruto passed out from chakra exhaustion. His chakra levels are stabilizing slower than normal so we will not be able to leave for at least a few days… if not longer. We will hirashin back to Konoha as soon as Naruto's chakra levels return to normal._

_Sakura_

Sakura put the letter in an envelope and formed a familiar cross seal. "Kage-bunshin no jutsu."

"Take this letter to the falconry and have it sent back to Konoha." Sakura ordered her summoned clone. "Then check to see if Naruto's gifts are in yet."

The Sakura clone simply nodded and left the room. Sakura walked back over to their bed and returned to her spot of cuddling with her unconscious boyfriend.

"Please wake up soon Naruto…" Sakura whispered as she laid her head down on his chest.

* * *

It had been two days since the messenger falcon was sent to the Lightning Temple and Naruto and Sakura were still not back. _The falcon should've been able to make the trip in about a day…_

"Tsunade!" Koharu greeted in a stern voice as she and Homura barged into her office. "Why isn't Naruto back yet? I thought he was able to hirashin back instantly."

Tsunade sighed. She was expecting this. "I'm not sure exactly, but…"

"You're not sure?" Homura asked in an unbelieving tone. "You're not sure where one of the last remaining jinchuriki is? Not to mention our most powerful shinobi?"

Before the elder council members could say anything else, a cat-masked anbu dropped into her office. "Tsunade-sama, we just get a letter from Sakura Haruno."

The hokage grabbed the envelope and quickly tore it open. While she would never show it in front of Koharu and Homura, she was very worried that Sakura and Naruto weren't back yet.

She read the letter and sighed. _These two aren't going to like this…_

"Well?" Koharu asked.

"Apparently Kabuto sent Itachi after Naruto."

"WHAT?" Both council members yelled.

"Calm down. Naruto wanted to free Itachi from Kabuto's control so Sakura and Naruto fought him." Tsunade explained.

"This is why we never should've agreed to that damn training mission! There's no way to beat the edo tensei, it is too dangerous for Naruto to be out of Konoha right now!" Homura seethed.

"Actually, Naruto and Sakura figured out a way to beat the edo tensei, and that's why they aren't here right now. Naruto channeled nature chakra into Itachi transforming him into a stone toad statue." Tsunade said with a proud grin.

"However, due to his poor chakra control he had to pour every ounce of nature chakra he had into Itachi so he would be overwhelmed by the nature chakra, and is now suffering from chakra exhaustion. Sakura says they will be back as soon as his chakra levels return to normal."

"Chakra exhaustion? We have a potential crisis and our most powerful ninja is out with chakra exhaustion? This never would've happened if Naruto hadn't gone on that training trip." Koharu scolded.

"Well apparently the training was worth it, if Naruto and Sakura were able to beat Itachi Uchiha revived by the edo tensei." Tsunade countered. "Now if you've said everything you needed to say, please leave. I have other things to do."

"You better hope Naruto gets back soon Tsunade." Homura threatened as the two council members exited her office.

The hokage stared out her window. _Please return soon you two…_

_

* * *

_

Kabuto stared at the stone toad statue that was Itachi. _Very clever Naruto-kun. I can't just re-summon Itachi because technically his body is still summoned. And the edo tensei only heals the body when it's damaged, but technically Itachi's body is unharmed. _

The scaled man smirked as he grabbed the toad statue. _I'll just have to take you back and figure out how to undo this transformation Itachi._

_

* * *

_

Naruto was in a familiar dark place, water on the floor, and a giant cage with a seal on it in front of him.

"**If it isn't the weak kit."**

"Shut up fox, I'm not weak anymore." Naruto growled.

"**Is that so? Then why are you here, suffering from chakra exhaustion after a battle with Itachi? Without his sharingan eyes he wouldn't have been a problem for someone who's strong." **The Kyubi sneered.

"Even without his sharingan eyes, Itachi was still powerful, not to mention he was revived by the edo tensei." Naruto retorted.

**The demon fox's laughter filled the dank chamber. "Do you really believe that? Trust me when I say this kit, Itachi, revived by the edo tensei or not, is no match for Madara Uchiha. If you try to fight Madara right now he will easily kill you."**

"Shut up fox!" Naruto yelled as his fists clenched in anger. "I've mastered the hirashin and I've almost mastered sage mode. I will stop Madara."

"**Face it Naruto, without my power you don't stand a chance."**

"No! I don't need your power! I will not hurt my precious people ever again." Naruto growled.

"**You say that now, but when you fight Madara you will definitely use my power."**

"Shut up you stupid fox." Naruto retorted as he walked to the opposite end of the chamber.

_I need to wake up soon._ The jinchuriki thought to himself.

* * *

"Did Itachi succeed Kabuto? Did he kill Naruto?" Madara asked his scaled "ally."

"Unfortunately not, Naruto-kun figured out a way to beat the edo tensei. He channeled nature chakra into Itachi which transformed Itachi into a stone toad statue." Kabuto replied.

"He what? This is why you should've sent your army after him!" Madara seethed.

"Don't worry Madara-sama. My spies tell me Konoha has summoned Naruto back. We can now knock out two birds with one stone."

"You mean…" Madara drawled.

"I will lead my edo tensai army to Konoha and not only kill Naruto-kun, but destroy Konoha as well." The scaled man finished.

"If Naruto has figured out a way to beat your edo tensei technique what makes you think you'll be able to kill him?" The ancient Uchiha asked.

"Naruto-kun is currently suffering from chakra exhaustion. Using his nature chakra to turn his enemy into stone seems to take a large chunk of chakra. So he will only be to stop one, maybe two. He doesn't stand a chance at stopping my entire army." Kabuto sneered.

"Hmm… Konoha is the central location of the shinobi alliance. If we destroy them the alliance will be broken apart. It will be much more difficult for them to move between each other's territories." Madara mused.

"And Konoha is one of the most powerful villages in the alliance, destroying them will be a severe blow to the shinobi alliance." Kabuto added.

"Very well, when will you be ready to march?"

"That depends… will I have the support of the Zetsu army?" Kabuto inquired with a sick grin.

"No you will not. I don't want the alliance to know about them yet. We will use the Zetsu army and the new members of the Akatsuki I've been recruiting to deal the final blow to the alliance."

"Then I will need a few weeks to strengthen my edo tensei before eradicating Konoha." Kabuto answered.

"Get started right away then." The ancient Uchiha commanded.

Kabuto smiled at Madara. "Hai… Madara-sama."

* * *

Whew! Finally finished this. Please do review =)


	3. Return

Alright! Chapter 3 is here. Sorry for the delay, but getting the flu really screwed up my updates, but I feel great now!

As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/alerts.

Thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: Toasty Warrior, hideki411, DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, ZeroTail29, TheOmegaMan, stryker4narusaku, Jozern, Blazing CobaltX, Nutt Man 117, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith, Echo Uchiha, SasMitoyomi

* * *

Toasty Warrior: Thanks! They'll definitely make it back in time to take on Kabuto! =P

hideki411: Thanks! I hope you enjoy this chapter =)

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles: Hmmm... I checked Narutopedia (A Naruto wiki) and it says there are only 3 ways to beat edo tensei: 1. Seal away the soul of the revived individual 2. Have the summoner end the technique or 3. The revived individual is effected in some way that gives them closure (although this doesn't work when the summoner destroys the personality of the revived individual).

ZeroTail29: Thanks =) I thought it was a clever solution too =P

TheOmegaMan: Thanks again for the longer review =) I always felt bad for Itachi in the manga/anime (well, I think most people do once they find out the truth). I agree that it's too bad he had to die =/ And sadly I couldn't come up with a good chapter title that started with "A..."

stryker4narusaku: Hehe, ya Shikamaru is a lazy bum, but he's one of my favorite Naruto characters =) You'll definitely be seeing more of him. Coincidentally, you'll also be seeing more of Naruto and Sakura fighting together as a team in future chapters as well =)

Jozern: Thanks so much =) I hope you enjoy this one!

Blazing CobaltX: Ya, Koharu and Homura really shouldn't have any power... they're just annoying. As for the edo tensei- it can regenerate someone from complete disintegration (according to my memory and Narutopedia). It's a freaking ridiculously powerful technique...

Nutt Man 117: Naruto will not learn how to harness the Kyubi's power in this part. That's something he's going to learn how to do during the sequel to this one which will just so happen to be the third and final part of this story =) There will be a lot more NaruSaku tag team action in this story, so I'm glad you enjoyed it =)

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Thanks =) Glad I could make your day! I thought it was a clever and plausible way to combat the edo tensei so I'm glad you liked it =)

Echo Uchiha: Being sick sucks =/ I hope you're feeling better now like I am! And thanks =)

SasMitoyomi: Ack, that's embarrassing! I can't believe I mispelled Orochimaru's name... Naruto is going to master the Kyubi in the third and final part of this story. For "A Jinchuriki's Strength" he's going to be focusing on fully mastering sage mode so he can remain in it indefinitely during a fight. And yes... I hate Koharu and Homura. So very annoying!

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Iruka would be more involved in Naruto Shippuden. Seriously man, I miss Iruka! I know he's not the most powerful guy ever, but he sorta just disappears in Shippuden just making a cameo here and there. Bring back Iruka Kishi!

Erm... ok. Anyways... let's move on to this chapter. Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Strength"-Chapter 3: Return

* * *

_Naruto once again stood across from Madara Uchiha. Rain was pouring down on the barren Earth._

"_So I'm having this dream again…" Naruto muttered as the familiar flash of lightning illuminated Madara who was standing there with his fan._

_Naruto sighed as he opened his mouth to call out the same familiar line. "Now we finally end this Madara. I will stop you here and save the world."_

"_What makes you think you can defeat Madara?" The familiar hate-filled voice of Naruto's former best friend spat in his ear._

_The jinchuriki sighed again as he turned to face Sasuke. "Because I have to stop him… I will find a way."_

"_You couldn't save me, what makes you think you can save the world from him?" Sasuke snapped the same tired line. _

"_I saved you in death Sasuke. Now be gone, you don't haunt me anymore." Naruto calmly replied. Over the past year, the jinchuriki had this exact dream more times than he cared to count, it was starting to get tiresome._

_The Yondaime's legacy sighed in relief as Sasuke disappeared. "Looks like I'm making progress in this stupid dream…"_

"_My...you've certainly grown since we last fought Naruto." Madara called from across the battlefield as another flash of lightning illuminated the scene._

"_As I was saying before… this ends now." Naruto replied as he entered sage mode._

_Madara's sickening laughter filled the air. "Oh Naruto… you've grown since we last fought. But you haven't grown enough. You aren't strong enough to beat me."_

_Naruto confidently smirked at his opponent. "We're in my dream; I can easily defeat you here. And when I face you in the real world, I will find a way to defeat you. Your days are numbered Madara."_

_Cherry blossoms suddenly flooded his vision causing Naruto to smile._

"_Looks like Sakura-chan used the Yume-no Sakura jutsu again. I'll have to thank her for getting me out of that same old dream when I wake up."_

_The jinchuriki smiled as he felt a familiar pair of slender arms wrap themselves around him._

_

* * *

_

Sakura looked at Naruto's face with a soft yet slightly worried smile. It had been three days since she had received Tsunade's letter ordering her and Naruto to return to Konoha, but Naruto was yet to wake up. She had just cast the Yume-no-Sakura jutsu on him on a whim.

Her boyfriend's chakra levels had almost returned to normal, so she figured he would be waking up soon. She couldn't wait for him to wake up, sure it had been nice spending the past couple of days in bed holding her unconscious love, but she was beginning to miss the sound of his voice.

Six days were far too long to go without hearing her beloved baka's voice. Casting a glance at the clock, Sakura saw that it was getting late.

"Please wake up soon Naruto-kun." The pink-haired kunoichi whispered to the man she currently had wrapped in an embrace. She gently laid her head on her boyfriend's chest and allowed herself to drift off to sleep.

* * *

"You wanted to see me Hokage-sama?" Kakashi greeted as he walked through the door to the Godaime's office.

"Kakashi, have you received any word from Sakura yet?" Tsunade asked.

"Nope. I figure you'd receive word from her before I do." Kakashi answered.

Tsunade sighed. "Probably so. When they get back I'm going to bash Naruto upside the head for getting such a severe case of chakra exhaustion right when we need him back here…"

"Don't worry Tsunade-sama, I'm sure they'll be back soon."

"They better…I don't like the reports I've been receiving on Kabuto's army. Not to mention the rumors coming in that Madara is recruiting new Akatsuki members… War is just around the corner."

The copy nin fixed the hokage with one of his famous one-eyed smiles. "You're right, and there's no way Naruto would miss this war. He'll be here to fight on the front lines and protect his precious people and village.

Tsunade shot Kakashi a grateful smile. "Ya… you're right."

* * *

Naruto blearily opened his eyes to a sunlit room. Judging from the light, it was just past sunrise. He felt a familiar weight on his chest and smiled down at his sleeping girlfriend.

_She's so beautiful…_ The blonde briefly debated on waking her, but decided to let her sleep a little while longer. He wrapped his arms around her slender body and rested his chin on the top of her head.

_I wonder how long I was out… Hopefully not too long, I can't afford to miss out on too much training._

A quiet moan interrupted Naruto's thoughts as his emerald-eyed angel began to stir. Warm sapphire eyes met groggy emerald eyes as Naruto softly smiled at his favorite kunoichi.

"Good morning Sakura-chan."

"Mmm… Morning Naruto…" Sakura mumbled tiredly. Her emerald eyes suddenly widened in surprise. "Naruto! You're finally awake!"

"Hehe, ya. How long was I out for?"

"Six whole days baka. Don't ever do that again!"

"You know I can't agree to that Sakura-chan." Naruto could sense his girlfriend's annoyance and foresaw a possible beating in his near future. "But I'll try to refrain as much as I can." He added in hopes of being spared the wrath of the small pink-haired girl.

Sakura sighed. "I suppose that's the best I'm going to get…" Pink-hair dropped back down to Naruto's chest as Sakura closed her eyes with a content smile.

_Shit!_ Sakura suddenly thought as she shot up. "I almost forgot! Tsunade-shishou has ordered us to return to Konoha. With Kabuto's edo-tensei army becoming active, we're needed. We were supposed to go 3 days ago, but someone was unconscious because he is a baka!"

Naruto shot Sakura an innocent grin. "My bad… But damn, I was hoping I would have more time here. I still haven't fully mastered sage mode. But oh well, if Baa-chan thinks Konoha is in danger then I will definitely be there to protect it!"

The blonde reluctantly untangled himself from his girlfriend and got out of bed.

"I'm going to take a shower first, then I want to say goodbye to the old man and thank him for his assistance in my training. After that we can go."

Sakura smirked at him. "About time. Six days is a long time to go without a shower, you were starting to stink."

Naruto returned her smirk with one of his own. "Oh I can't smell that bad judging from the position you slept in last night."

Sakura responded by throwing a pillow at his face. "Just go take a shower baka."

Naruto stuck his tongue out and walked into the bathroom. He turned on the water for the shower and took off his clothes. The jinchuriki got in the shower and let out a pleasant sigh as he felt the warm water pelt his skin.

Suddenly the shower curtain was pulled open to reveal Sakura with a slightly lecherous grin on her angelic face.

"Looks like you could use some company Naruto-kun." She said in a sultry voice.

Naruto grinned from ear to ear as his girlfriend joined him in the shower.

"You read my mind Sakura-chan." Naruto crashed his lips into Sakura's soft lips.

_I should push myself to chakra exhaustion more often if I get to take a morning shower with Sakura when I wake up…_

The blonde-haired boy smiled as he felt Sakura's hands travelling down his body, and instantly his own hands began travelling down hers.

"I love you Sakura." The blonde whispered.

"I love you too Naruto." The pinkette whispered back.

* * *

After a very long and…exhausting shower, Naruto and Sakura were back in their bedroom getting ready to get dressed. Naruto put on his black undershirt and went to grab his regular orange pants.

"Wait Naruto, don't put those on." Sakura called, causing Naruto to fix her with a lecherous smirk.

"So the shower wasn't enough eh Sakura-chan?"

The pink-haired kunoichi rolled her eyes. "No baka, I got you a present so close your eyes." The Yondaime's legacy complied and squeezed his eyes shut. He heard his girlfriend rummaging through their closet.

"Ok, you can open them now!"

Sapphire eyes again took in the world, and settled on Sakura's gift. His favorite kunoichi was currently holding a jumpsuit very similar to his regular one, except where his jumpsuit was orange, this jumpsuit was a dark red.

"Now you can wear your sage cloak without looking like a dork AND we'll match! We're going to be so cute!" Sakura cooed as she shoved the outfit into Naruto's hands.

"Hey, I look cool in my sage cloak!" Naruto retorted with a pout.

"I hate to break it to you Naruto, but you don't wear red and orange together. They just don't look good. But now your jumpsuit will match your cloak so you will look much better."

Naruto smiled at his girlfriend and put on the new jumpsuit. He reached for his black Konoha forehead protector, but Sakura quickly snatched it up.

"Nope, you're not wearing this anymore either."

"What's wrong with my forehead protector Sakura-chan?"

Naruto's emerald-eyed angel grinned at him. "Nothing, but I think you'll like this one more." Sakura handed Naruto a red forehead protector that had the kanji for oil, much like Jiraiya's forehead protector, except this one didn't have horns.

"Sakura-chan… this is awesome!"

"I knew you'd like it." Sakura replied softly.

"Man if Pervy Sage could see me now… He'd be so jealous of how cool I look!"

Sakura chuckled and took the forehead protector from Naruto's hand and tied it around his head.

"Happy anniversary Naruto. I would've given this to you on our actual anniversary, but you were still unconscious."

Sapphire eyes widened in surprise. _CRAP! I didn't get Sakura anything for our anniversary! Ok… think Naruto think…_

"Thanks Sakura-chan, I love my new outfit. Umm… my gift to you is… well…"

"You forgot about our anniversary didn't you." Sakura questioned with a sweat-drop.

"I didn't forget! It's just that time has flown by now that I'm with you… it's hard to believe that we've been together for a year already. It feels like only a week ago you were dragging me into your tent with you." Naruto answered truthfully, causing his girlfriend to give him a soft smile.

"I can't argue with you there… It is hard to believe it's already been a year."

"So about your gift… It's umm… back in Konoha and…"

Sakura shushed Naruto by pressing a finger to his lips. "How about you just promise to dress up and take me somewhere nice for dinner once we get back to Konoha?"

"Well that's a given Sakura-chan! Your gift is much more awesome than some dinner." Naruto said indignantly.

The Godaime's apprentince kissed her boyfriend on his cheek. "Ok, fine Naruto. But we should get moving. The sooner we flash back to Konoha, the better."

"Right!" Naruto walked over to their closet and grabbed his sage cloak out of it and put it on over his new jumpsuit.

"You look very handsome in your new outfit Naruto-kun." Sakura complimented as she gave her knucklehead an approving look.

"Thanks Sakura-chan, you're always beautiful no matter what you wear." Naruto replied with an honest smile. His compliment earned him a smile and a quick kiss from the woman of his dreams.

* * *

After sealing all their things up Naruto and Sakura exited the bedroom that they had lived in for just over a year for the last time. The future hokage grabbed the hand of his emerald-eyed angel as they took off to find the temple master.

The pair exited the temple and walked into the main courtyard where the temple master was waiting with Sakura's genjutsu teacher as well.

"Ah Naruto, you're finally awake." The old master greeted warmly.

"Yea old man. And now we're being summoned back to Konoha, from the sounds of things war is just around the corner." Naruto replied stoically.

"You're right about that Naruto-chan. Good luck in fully mastering sage mode."

The jinchuriki let go of his companion's hand to shake the old temple master's hand.

"Thanks for everything old man. You were a big help."

"No problem Naruto-chan. Good luck in saving the world." The old man replied with a wry smile.

"So you're leaving too Sakura?" The genjutsu specialist asked.

"Yes Ayuri-san. Thank you for all your help in my genjutsu training."

The genjutsu specialist smiled warmly at the pink-haired kunoichi. "It was my pleasure Sakura. I know you'll make me proud."

"I'll do my best." Sakura replied with a grin of her own.

"Well… I guess we should be leaving now ne Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked as he wrapped his arm around his girlfriend's waste.

"Yes we should. Thank you again for everything, maybe we'll come visit once all this is over."

"That would be nice Sakura-san. You two are always welcome here." The old temple master said. "Good luck Naruto, Sakura."

Naruto simply smiled at the old man before closing his eyes and focusing on the three-pronged kunai he had given Sakura just over a year ago. Without another word, the couple disappeared in a yellow and pink flash.

* * *

"Tsunade I think it's time you step down as hokage." Koharu said sternly. Tsunade sighed as she looked at the two elder council members. She knew as soon as they barged into their office that she was in for a long day.

"That would be about the dumbest thing we could do right now." Shikamaru snorted from the corner of the office. Tsunade and the lazy jonin had been discussing war strategies when the two elders burst into her office. "We're about to enter war and you want to mess with our leadership? You two must know absolutely nothing about war if you honestly think we should replace Tsunade now."

"Watch your mouth boy!" Homura spat. "You will give us the respect we deserve."

"We're about to enter war and our most powerful weapon isn't around because Tsunade sent him away as a favor to her apprentice. She let her emotions cloud her judgment and now all of Konoha is going to pay for it." Koharu said.

Tsunade opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by a flash of yellow and pink.

"We're back Baa-chan!" Naruto greeted.

Shikamaru smirked at the two elders. "You were saying?"

Naruto turned around confused and saw the two fuming elders.

"Ah hello Homura-san, Koharu-san. What brings you two here?" The jinchuriki politely greeted.

"Oh they were just trying to strip Tsunade of her title for letting you leave the village for so long." Shikamaru answered for the two elders.

Naruto's stare hardened as he took in Shikamaru's words. "Thanks to Baa-chan's decision to send me out on a training mission, I've become far more powerful. With the help of the master at the Lightning Temple my training progressed far more than it would have here in Konoha. You would do well not to threaten the hokage anymore Homura-san, Koharu-san." Naruto said icily.

The elders began sweating nervously.

"We're just happy you're back Naruto-sama." Koharu stammered nervously.

"Perhaps it would be good for the village to see your new strength sometime." Homura added.

"That's a good idea." Tsunade said, speaking up for the first time since Naruto's arrival. "It would be good for village morale to see how strong you've become. Now if you don't mind Homura, Koharu, I would like to speak with Naruto and Sakura alone."

The elders simply nodded and exited the hokage's office.

As soon as they walked out the door Tsunade swept both Naruto and Sakura into a bone crushing hug.

"It's been far too long you too. I'm glad you're back. Thank you especially for saving me from those old crones."

"Baa-chan…can't...breathe…" Naruto gasped. Sakura on the other hand had prepared herself for Tsunade's hug by using chakra to strengthen each muscle in her body.

Tsunade let go of the pair and returned to her desk. "So, how strong have you become, are you ready to face Madara?"

Naruto scratched his chin in thought. "Well… I've mastered the hirashin, and have come close to mastering sage mode. I can't remain in it indefinitely yet, but I've extended the duration and I've come up with alternative ways of replenishing my nature chakra without having to summon clones from Mt. Myoboku. As for Madara… I think I'll need to fully master sage mode before I can beat him. But if I have to face him before, then I'll find a way to win. BELIEVE IT!" Naruto finished with a confident grin.

"Good, you will continue your sage training here in Konoha then. Now if you're as strong as you say we'll need to put you up against more than just one opponent to see your power…" Tsunade mused.

Sakura looked at Naruto with a look of pride on her face. She was proud of her boyfriend, but she still couldn't help but feel a little hurt. Tsunade hadn't even asked once about her growth. Honestly Sakura wasn't surprised; she wasn't the chosen one who destined to save the world after all…

Naruto noticed the small look of hurt in Sakura's eyes and quickly interrupted Tsunade's thoughts.

"Actually Baa-chan, I don't really like to fight alone anymore."

Everyone in the room shot Naruto a startled look, including Sakura. The jinchuriki softly smiled at his girlfriend before returning his gaze to the hokage.

"Sakura has become very powerful over this past year herself, and I prefer fighting together with Sakura as a team. We perfectly compliment each other's weaknesses and together are much harder to beat than we are separately."

"Naruto…" Sakura stammered with a smile as a feeling of warmth filled her entire body. Naruto's words erased all the stupid little insecurities she had been letting build up since they arrived back in Konoha and replaced those insecurities with a new unshakable confidence in both herself and her knucklehead.

"Naruto's right shishou. We fight very well together as a team. With Naruto's exceptional stamina and chakra, he engages the enemy head on while I use my genjutsu and medical jutsus to support him." Sakura said with a confident smile.

"I see." Tsunade said with a proud smile of her own. _I'm glad Sakura was able to get stronger too. I was worried Naruto would progress too quickly and leave her feeling like a burden again…_ "Well then… the two of you should start preparing yourselves. Tomorrow in front of the village, you will face Neji, Lee, Tenten, Chouji, Ino and Shikamaru."

Shikamaru groaned as his name was mentioned.

"No complaints Shikamaru. You're an excellent strategist. Your strategies combined with the strength of your team and Team Gai will be a perfect test of Naruto and Sakura's strength." Tsunade said before the lazy genius could say anything.

"Ugh. Having to fight the guy who defeated Pain and the girl who defeated Sasuke… This is going to be troublesome." Shikamaru complained.

"Go find your team and Team Gai and tell them the news, it would also probably be a good idea to start coming up with strategies as well." Tsunade ordered.

Shikamaru mumbled something under his breath about troublesome hokages before exiting the office.

"Ok you too, you should go home and get some rest. You're going to need it for tomorrow." Tsunade said to the two remaining nin in her office.

Naruto grinned confidently at her. "I'm not all that worried Baa-chan, Sakura-chan and I will be just fine against those guys tomorrow."

"You guys are that strong eh?" Tsunade asked.

Sakura smiled her master. "Yes shishou, we are."

"I look forward to seeing how much you two have progressed then. Oh, and Naruto?"

"Ya Baa-chan?"

"I like the new look. Much better than that stupid orange jumpsuit you used to wear. I especially like your new forehead protector, Jiraiya would be proud of you."

"Hehe, Pervy-sage is proud of me Baa-chan. He told me himself when I was dead last year! Oh! And he also told me to tell you and I quote, "That he's always watching over you. So you should stop crying when you're alone, it's depressing!" Naruto said with a sheepish grin as he scratched the back of his head. "Sorry… with everything that happened when I came back to life I sorta forgot to tell you."

A warm smile adorned Tsunade's face as she looked at Naruto. _He looks so much like his father and acts so much like Jiraiya… _"Thanks brat." The hokage whispered as a single tear ran down her cheek.

"No problem Baa-chan. Oh, and you can thank Sakura-chan for my new look. It was an anniversary gift!" Naruto added as he grinned at his girlfriend. It felt really nice to be able to use anniversary and Sakura in the same sentence.

"Well that makes more sense. Good work Sakura. The new outfit you've gotten him will suit him much better now that he's a symbol for this village." Sakura simply beamed in pride. Naruto however looked from the hokage to her apprentice with a look of confusion on his face.

"A…symbol? What are you talking about Baa-chan?"

"Naruto we're about to enter a difficult war. In times like these the people look to heroes to give them hope. Your father was a symbol for Konoha during the third great ninja war, and you will be a symbol to Konoha for the fourth. Our people will look to you for strength. Your new outfit not only reminds them all that you're a sage, but your new forehead protector reminds them that you are a disciple of Jiraiya, another former hero of Konoha. You will inspire our forces, and you will give them peace of mind. Your strength will inspire and lift us through this war Naruto."

The jinchuriki simply stared at his hokage with a look of shock on his face. "Baa-chan… I'm sorry, but I don't think people will look to me for inspiration… I'm still the vessel for the Kyubi after all…"

"Naruto, the people of this village care about you. They have finally recognized you as the hero of this village and it is common knowledge that you are our most powerful shinobi. Trust me when I say you are the one our people will look to for inspiration." Tsunade replied confidently.

Tears began forming around the edges of Naruto's eyes. His five year old self would be so happy right now, to be accepted and gain the recognition of the entire village. Sakura squeezed her boyfriend's hand and gave him a soft smile.

"I won't let them down. If I'm going to be a symbol for Konoha, then I will not fail. Believe it!" Naruto said softly with a happy smile.

"I know that brat, as does our entire village. Now why don't you two go home and start preparing for tomorrow."

"I agree, let's go home Naruto." Sakura said as she tugged on the blonde's hand.

"Alright… See ya later Baa-chan!" Naruto waved to the blonde hokage as he allowed his girlfriend to drag him out of the office.

"Oh one more thing." Tsunade called out before the two were out her door. A smirk adorned the busty hokage's face. "I would like to congratulate the two of you in person for finally getting together."

Naruto and Sakura blushed. "Thanks shishou." Sakura answered for the blushing pair. The happy couple left the hokage's office hand in hand.

* * *

Madara stared down at the list of potential Akatsuki members. He had already recruited five s-class nukenin, but still wanted more. _Considering who the last two jinchurikis are that we need to capture I'm going to need more members… Killer Bee has complete control over the Hachibi and Naruto is the son of the Yondaime…_

Looking at the next name on the list, Madara set off towards his next target. _It's only a matter of time until I control this world…_

_

* * *

_

Sakura and Naruto walked through the village hand-in-hand. Villagers stared after the pair. Most with smiles on their facces, although some girls glared at Sakura in jealousy as they took in Naruto's new appearance. The pink-haired kunoichi simply glared back causing the jealous villagers to back away.

"It sure is good to be back here." Naruto said, interrupting the silence.

"Yes it is, and the weather today is so beautiful." Sakura agreed.

"You know Sakura-chan… I seem to remember owing you a nice dinner…" _And an anniversary gift… Which I still need to figure out…_

"Yes you do. But not tonight, we need to plan for our battle tomorrow. I know you're not overly worried, but don't underestimate Shikamaru. You can bet that he'll have a brilliant strategy that will have us on the ropes."

"But Sakura-chaaan, we'll be fine." Naruto whined.

"Don't get cocky baka. Did you already forget what shishou said? You're going to be a symbol for this village in the coming war; the villagers will feel much safer with you around if we win tomorrow. So we're not going to take any chances." Sakura scolded.

"Fine…" The jinchuriki sighed. "Can we at least grab an early dinner at Ichiraku's first? It's been far too long."

Sakura turned and smiled at her knucklehead, looping her arm around his.

"To be completely honest I'm surprised you haven't flashed us to Ichiraku's sooner."

"So… is that a yes?" Naruto asked in a hopeful tone.

Sakura kissed her boyfriend on the cheek. "Of course baka, lead on."

"YATTA! ICHIRAKU'S HERE WE COME!" The future hokage yelled loud enough for the entire village to hear.

* * *

"YATTA! ICHIRAKU'S HERE WE COME!" Ino heard a very familiar voice ring through the village. _That sounded like Naruto. I haven't heard from Sakura since she requested the mission with him, I wonder if she came back with him. Did she manage to convince him to stop being a baka?_

A curious Ino took off towards Ichiraku, praying that when she saw the familiar head of blonde hair she saw Sakura's pink hair as well.

* * *

Sakura watched Naruto with an amused look on her face as the jinchuriki shoveled ramen into his mouth as quickly as he could. He had already gone through five bowls and they had only been at Ichiraku's for 15 minutes.

"Slow down Naruto." Sakura admonished. "You're eating as if you haven't eaten in weeks."

Naruto paused and looked at Sakura. "I can't help it Sakura-chan! It's been a year since I've had Ichiraku's. I've missed it so much!"

Teuchi and Ayume chuckled. "And we've missed you too Naruto." The old ramen older said.

Sakura sighed with a smile on her face and turned her attention back to the bowl of miso ramen she had ordered. Unlike her ravenous boyfriend, she was only halfway finished with her first bowl.

"Forehead! Naruto! You're back!"

Sakura turned around to see Ino walking into the ramen stand with a large smile on her face.

"Hello Ino, it's good to see you." Naruto greeted.

"I figured you would know we're back by now Pig." Sakura said with a grin.

"Huh? Why would I know?"

"Hasn't Shikamaru talked to yet today?" Sakura questioned.

"No, I saw him lying on a roof watching clouds earlier though." Ino answered. "Why?"

"Hehe, Shikamaru hasn't changed a bit." Naruto said with a chuckle.

"Apparently not. Ino, your team and Team Gai are going to be fighting Naruto and I in front of the entire village tomorrow as a test of how much we've improved during our training."

"WHAT?" Ino yelled in a shocked tone. "I have to fight Naruto?"

"And Sakura." Naruto added with a foxy grin.

"Hey you'll have us outnumbered 6-2." Sakura pointed out.

Ino sighed. "Well now I have to go find Shikamaru and put that lazy mind of his to work…" The platinum blonde turned to leave the ramen stand before stopping and turning around quickly.

"Oh I almost forgot! Forehead, how was your mission." Ino asked with a suggestive look.

"Naruto and I have been dating for a year now...so quite well." Sakura answered with a happy smile.

"I knew it would work!" Ino called out triumphantly. "Congratulations you two, I'm so happy for you. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to kick your ass tomorrow." Ino added.

"Thanks Pig, and bring it on."

"Thanks Ino, we'll try our best not to beat you too badly." Naruto replied with a smirk.

"Whatever. I'm going to go find Shikamaru now. See you two tomorrow!" Ino ran out of the ramen stand.

_Now to find Shikamaru and figure out a way for us to beat Naruto and Sakura tomorrow… I will not lose to Sakura!_

_

* * *

_

After Ino left, Naruto and Sakura stayed at Ichiraku's for another 30 minutes while Naruto inhaled ramen. The future hokage finally stopped after eating 11 bowls. Sakura got out her wallet to pay for the rather large bill, but was beat to the punch by Naruto who also left a very generous tip.

"Thanks for the delicious meal old man!" Naruto said with a large grin.

"You're welcome Naruto. It's good to have you back."

"Ok Naruto, let's go. We need to start planning for tomorrow." Sakura said as she grabbed her boyfriend's arm. The jinchuriki began walking towards his apartment but was pulled to a stop by his emerald-eyed angel.

"Why don't we go back to my apartment instead of yours Naruto? It's bigger and nicer."

"Ok Sakura-chan." The blonde replied with a grin.

"And…I…I thought it would be nice if you moved in with me. My apartment has plenty of room, and we did share a bedroom for the entire past year..." Sakura added somewhat shyly.

Naruto stood rooted in place with a ridiculously happy smile on his face. "Do you mean it Sakura? You want to live together?"

"Of course baka. After sharing a bed for the past year I don't really want to go back to sleeping alone, and it would be nice having you with me all the time." Sakura replied with a soft smile.

Naruto answered his girlfriend by pulling her into a deep kiss.

"Well?" Sakura asked with an eyebrow raised. She knew his answer, but still wanted to hear it from his mouth.

"Of course I'll move in with you Sakura-chan!" Naruto replied enthusiastically.

Sakura softly smiled at him. "I'm glad."

The pinkette dragged Naruto towards her… their apartment.

* * *

Kabuto sat in a dark room meditating, focusing on his edo tensei. His snake-like eyes flashed open. _Just one more weak and my edo-tensei will be strong enough to completely eradicate Konoha. Soon I will fulfill Orochimaru-sama's greatest dream. Soon I will destroy Konoha._

_

* * *

_

Woo! Quite the fluffy chapter there. I hope you like Naruto's new look! Please do review =)_  
_


	4. The Difference a Year Can Make

And here we are again, nearing the halfway point of this story.

As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/alerts

Shout out and my thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: Toasty Warrior, Echo Uchiha, saveme57, butterflyV, TheOmegaMan, ZeroTail29, melapoy, Jozern, Stryker114, Blazing CobaltX, Darious Frost, Nutt Man 117, raphmaster14

* * *

Toasty Warrior: I do enjoy me some fluff =P And thanks! Glad you like the new outfit! I hope you enjoy this chapter as well =)

Echo Uchiha: =)

saveme57: Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter =) I also look forward to seeing Naruto's new outfit show up in your story =)

butterflyV: They're going to take it seriously, that I can assure you!

TheOmegaMan: Thanks a lot! When I started writing fanfictions I was originally very lenient in my grammar, but after reading through "A Jinchuriki's Husk" again I decided to tighten up my writing some =P As a huge Shikamaru fan I can tell you that Shikamaru will have his chance to show off his awesomeness in this story =)

ZeroTail29: Thanks! Hope you enjoy this one as well =)

melapoy: =P

Jozern: Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. I hope you like this one too =)

Stryker114: This chapter's purpose is to show off what happens when Naruto and Sakura spend a year doing absolutely nothing except for training. The others had to go on missions and the like still. See my mini-speel at the end of this chapter for more information =)

Blazing CobaltX: I had no idea! Wow, that's embarrassing. I went through and replaced it in all my stories except for Husk =P Thanks for pointing that out to me, and I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

Darious Frost: Thanks! Ya, I think Naruto looks much more badass with his new outfit =P I originally made the forehead protector, (I can never spell it right when I try to use the Japanese word), exactly like Jiraiya's. But it just looked so weird when I pictured it in my mind, so I just switched to a regular one.

Nutt Man 117: Thanks! And it's about time they moved in together, I hinted towards Sakura wanting Naruto to move in with her back in the first chapter of "A Jinchuriki's Husk!" =P I think this fight turned out well, so I hope you enjoy it =)

raphmaster14: Thanks! I hope you enjoy the rest of the story =)

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Jiraiya would've been in the village when Naruto was growing up to take care of him. Could you imagine how badass Naruto would be now if Jiraiya started training him when he was 6 or 7?

Alright, onto the show. Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Strength" Chapter 4: The Difference a Year Can Make

* * *

"Ok. Does everyone have the plan memorized?" Shikamaru asked his teammates for his pending fight.

"Oh yea! Naruto and Sakura don't stand a chance!" Ino confidently crooned.

"I learned long ago to never underestimate Naruto, Ino. Shikamaru's plan is good, but you should never be overconfident when Naruto is one of your opponents." Neji cautioned.

"I cannot wait to test my skills against Naruto-kun! If we lose today I will do 1000 laps around Konoha. No, 2000!" Lee said in his usual over-enthusiastic tone.

"Don't forget about Sakura guys." Tenten warned. "She is the apprentice to the hokage, and like Naruto she spent the entire past year training."

"Tenten's right. But that's why we're going to take out Sakura first. As a medinin she can heal any damage we do to Naruto. Also, she's an unknown because we don't know what exactly she trained during the past year."

"With your plan Shikamaru, we're definitely going to win!" Chouji said confidently.

The ninjas looked up as Naruto and Sakura walked onto the training grounds. The shinobi and villagers who had gathered to watch the fight instantly started murmuring.

"Man I'm glad Naruto's on our side…" Ino said as she stared at the jinchuriki, with his sage cloak billowing in the wind. "He looks a lot more intimidating now with his new outfit."

"Don't worry Ino, our power of youth will definitely prevail!" Lee yelled as he pumped his fist into the air.

* * *

"Ok Naruto… do you remember the plan?" Sakura asked as the pair stared across the training grounds at their opponents.

"You bet Sakura-chan. We're going to take Shikamaru out of the fight first, and then we'll worry about the rest of them."

"Alright… we should be starting soon. Are you ready to enter sage mode?"

"Of course Sakura-chan. I always make sure I have enough nature chakra to enter sage mode instantly."

"Good. It's time to show everyone what we can do." Sakura said with a grin.

* * *

Kakashi watched as his two former students stared calmly at their opponents. _They're both calm and collected… I can't wait to see how much you two have grown._

"Well… all of our combatants are here. We should probably get this started eh Kakashi?" Tsunade noted.

"I think that would be good Hokage-sama."

Tsunade walked into the middle of the training grounds, drawing the attention of the shinobi and villagers gathered.

"Thank you for coming everyone. As you know, Naruto and Sakura have finally returned to the village after a year away on a training mission. Today they go up against 6 of our finest jonin, including the most intelligent mind that Konoha has produced in years. Naruto, Sakura, are you ready?"

"Of course Baa-chan." Naruto replied with a confident grin.

"Team 10, Team Gai, are you ready?"

"As ready as we'll ever be I guess." Shikamaru replied lazily.

"Ok, get into your positions."

Naruto and Sakura stood side by side, as Ino and Shikamaru walked to the far end of the training ground, with Chouji, Tenten, Neji and Lee standing in front of them.

"Ok. Comabatants…BEGIN!" Tsunade yelled as the crowd cheered.

Naruto's eyes instantly took on the familiar toad-like appearance that announced he was in sage mode. The jinchuriki took out a three-pronged kunai and whipped it at Neji.

Remembering what Shikamaru told him earlier, Neji instantly used his heavenly spin.

_FLASHBACK_

"_We know that Naruto spent the past year focusing on mastering the hirashin and sage mode. So we should assume that he's mastered both to be safe. If Naruto throws a three-pronged kunai at you start to defend yourself because he will likely flash to you and take you out with the insane speed of the hirashin." Shikamaru told Team 10 and Team Gai._

_FLASH IN_

"Hakkesho Kaiten!" Naruto flashed in front of Neji just in time to get hit by the chakra shield. Instead of being blasted back, the jinchuriki disappeared in a large red flame.

Shikamaru's eyes widened. _Since when could Naruto cast genjutsus? And a genjutsu that fooled all six of us… _The lazy genius found Naruto and Sakura standing exactly in the same position as they were when they started the fight. Naruto still held a three-pronged kunai in his hand.

Lee suddenly flickered in front of Naruto and threw a kick at the blonde's head. The jinchuriki ducked underneath the kick and tried to counter by thrusting his fist towards Lee's chest. The bushy-browed jonin surprised Naruto by releasing a gate and using his increased speed to dodge Naruto's counter, then knocking Naruto backwards with a punch to his jaw.

_Lee can release his gates much quicker now._ The future hokage thought as he flew through the air.

Shikamaru smirked. _Perfect, Lee will keep Naruto distracted while Neji, Chouji and Tenten take out Sakura._

Tenten withdrew a scroll and threw a barrage of weapons at the pink-haired kunoichi, but Sakura expertly dodged each weapon.

"Nikudan Sensha!" Chouji yelled before hurtling towards Sakura as a giant human ball. The pinkette again dodged the attack.

_That's weird…_ Shikamaru thought. _Why didn't Sakura counter attack there… I expected her to use her chakra-enhanced strength there…_

Neji flickered in front of Sakura and began trying to strike her with his gentle fist strikes, but Sakura again easily dodged.

_Now she's dodging each of Neji's strikes? Sakura was never that fast…_ Shikamaru thought worriedly. _But Naruto is…_

"Neji, use your heavenly spin!" Shikamaru yelled out.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!" Neji's chakra shield caused Sakura to dispel in a poof of smoke.

_Just as I feared… That was a kage bunshin henged into Sakura's form. _Shikamaru glanced over at Naruto who was currently engaged in a taijutsu battle with Lee. _Where is Sakura…_

"NARUTO NOW!" A feminine voice yelled in his ear.

"Kuso!" Shikamaru swore as pink chakra chains wrapped around him, restraining his arms. Sakura was standing directly behind him.

Shikamaru's eyes widened as Naruto suddenly flashed to Sakura's side. _How the hell did he do that?_ The Nara genius didn't see a three-pronged kunai in Sakura's hand.

"Sorry Shikamaru, but this is going to hurt." Naruto apologized as he formed a familiar blue sphere in his hand.

Ino threw a volley of shuriken at Sakura and Naruto, but a kage bunshin flashed to Sakura and deflected all the shuriken.

"Rasengan!" Naruto yelled thrusting the sphere into Shikamaru's gut. The genius was sent hurtling through a tree and eventually skidded to a stop on the ground unconscious.

"Naruto! You sent him through a tree!" Sakura scolded.

"Oops… I didn't mean too, I thought I put less into that rasengan." Naruto replied sheepishly. His body quickly tensed up as he felt something hurtling toward he and Sakura.

"Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu" The jinchuriki quickly yelled, summoning a mass of clones to absorb the volley of kunai Tenten threw at the two.

Ino took advantage of her opponents' momentary distraction and put her hand into her family's signature hand seal.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" The platinum blonde's body fell backwards as she sent her mind attack at Sakura.

_FLASHBACK_

"_Ino if our first plan to take out Sakura doesn't work you're going to be the most important member of our team. You can't use your mind body switch technique on Naruto because of the Kyubi, but you can use it to take over Sakura. She's Naruto's biggest weakness. If you fight him in Sakura's body then he will naturally hold back and give us the opening we need to defeat him." __Shikamaru calmly explained.__  
_

_FLASH IN_

Sakura stiffened as she felt Ino's mind invade her own.

_**Ino-Pig you're trying this again? **_Inner Sakura crowed as Ino attempted to take control of her pink-haired friend's body.

"Ugh, you're still around? No matter, I'm stronger now than I was during the chunin exams. I'm not going to lose to you this time." Ino said to Inner Sakura.

_**Oh you shouldn't be worrying about me Pig!**_

"What? What do you mean?"

_She means you should be worrying about me Ino._ Sakura thought angrily. The pink-haired kunoichi used her precise chakra control to stimulate her brain and force Ino from her mind.

"Damnit…" Ino said as she opened her eyes in her own body.

Lee rushed forward, but Sakura cast a genjutsu on him causing him to think Naruto and Sakura disappeared. The taijutsu master skidded to a halt and look around confused.

"Where did they go?" He asked.

"Lee they're right in front of you!" Tenten yelled.

Lee blinked as he looked in front of him and saw absolutely nothing.

"Damnit…" Neji swore as he ran forward to break Lee out of the genjutsu.

While Neji was distracted with freeing Lee, Sakura flipped in front of Ino who had slowly pulled herself to her feet. The pink-haired kunoichi caught Ino upside the head with a powerful chakra enhanced punch, knocking the blonde out.

Neji reached Lee just as Ino's unconscious body skidded across the ground. _Damnit…_ The Hyuga thought angrily as he pumped chakra into Lee's body, freeing him from the genjutsu he was under.

Lee looked up to see Sakura, but still could not see Naruto.

"I still cannot see Naruto-kun!" Lee yelled. Neji's eyes widened in surprise as he too couldn't find the jinchuriki. _He disappeared while I was distracted with Lee…_

"Chouji, Tenten, did you see where Naruto went?" Neji asked.

"No, I didn't even notice him disappear." Tenten answered.

_Did he cast another genjutsu on us?_

"Lee, Shikamaru's plan can still work. We need to take out Sakura quickly, let's go."

"YOSH!" Lee yelled as he flickered away, appearing right in front of Sakura. The bushy browed man sent a fist towards Sakura's face but that fist was caught…by Naruto who had suddenly flashed in front Sakura.

_How the hell does he keep doing that?_ Neji thought desperately. Naruto held onto Lee's fist as Sakura capitalized on his surprise by hitting him in the face with a chakra enhanced punch. The jinchuriki held onto Lee's fist, preventing Lee from flying backwards. Instead the blonde boy pulled Lee back and kneed the taijutsu master in the gut.

"Damnit! Tenten we need to act quickly before they take Lee out of the fight!" Neji yelled as he rushed towards the duo. Tenten quickly placed two small scrolls on the ground.

"Soshoryu!" The scrolls released a puff of smoke and two smoke dragons flew up into the air before transforming back into very long scrolls. Tenten leapt up between the scrolls and began throwing a vast barrage of weapons at Naruto and Sakura.

The pink-haired kunoichi slammed her fist into the ground, raising an earth wall to protect her and Naruto.

As Neji neared the wall, an unconscious Lee crashed through it and flew into Neji. The Hyuga fell backwards from the force of his friend's body hitting him. Rolling the unconscious jonin off of him Neji stood and dusted himself off.

"Where are they now?" Chouji groaned. Naruto and Sakura seemed to have disappeared when they threw Lee through the rock wall. Neji scanned the area desperately with his Byukugan.

"Chouji below you!" Neji yelled as pink Sakura chains burst from the ground wrapping around the large Akamichi.

"Cho Baika no Jutsu!" Chouji yelled, instantly expanding to a giant size breaking the chakra chains.

Neji smiled at his friend's quick thinking, but the smile quickly dropped. _Where's Naruto…_

Chouji smashed his giant hand into the ground where he assumed Sakura was hiding. The crater that was created by Chouji's fist revealed a log.

Neji quickly scanned around looking for the jinchuriki.

"Tenten! Behind you!"

The weapon mistress barely turned her head as Naruto's foot connected with the side of her head. _Damnit, using the chakra chains on Chouji was just a distraction!_

Tenten flew straight into a tree, unconscious from the sage's kick.

Neji swore. Naruto and Sakura had effortlessly evened the numbers. Naruto rushed Neji and began throwing strikes. The Hyuga prodigy began striking at the jinchuriki with his gentle fists. The whiskered blonde's hand briefly grazed Neji's shoulder.

"Hakkesho Kaiten" Neji's heavenly spin forced Naruto to jump backwards. The Hyuga tensed himself for another round of attacks from Naruto, but the jinchuriki took out a three-pronged kunai and threw it at the giant Akamichi.

"Chouji!" Neji yelled.

"Hakke Kusho!" Neji yelled, sending a vaccum shell towards Naruto. The Hyuga gasped when his attack missed.

"How the…" Before Neji could ponder how his attack missed, Naruto had grabbed a hold of the giant Chouji's finger, twisted his body lifting the giant off the ground and twisting his body again throwing Chouji into the ground at an incredible velocity.

An unconscious Chouji now lay in a giant crater. _Now it's 2 against 1… Crap_ Neji thought. Neji leapt forward as Sakura appeared from seemingly nowhere behind him and struck at him with a chakra scalpel.

"Hakke…" Neji started, intending to take Sakura out with his empty palm.

Before Neji could finish, Naruto suddenly flashed in front of him. Byakugan eyes widened in surprise. _How the hell did he just do that…_

Before the Hyuga prodigy could ponder anything more, he felt Naruto's fist connect with his stomach. Neji fell forward and Naruto caught him. Black spots danced across his vision as he tried to draw in a breath.

"How…did…" Neji wheezed.

"I'll tell you when you wake up." Naruto said as Neji felt a pair of soft, gloved hands place themselves on his temples.

"Neru-no Jutsu" Sakura's voice called in Neji's ear. Naruto gently lay the sleeping Hyuga down onto the ground and dropped out of sage mode. Sapphire eyes found Tsunade's hazel eyes.

"Looks like Sakura and I win ne Baa-chan?" Naruto grinned.

The crowd erupted in a roar of cheers.

* * *

Kakashi looked at his former students, his one visible eye was wide in shock.

_They're not even breathing heavy. They just took out six jonin effortlessly…_

"My they've become quite strong." Kakashi said quietly.

"They have. It looks like it was a good idea to send them out on the training trip after all." Tsunade replied with a proud grin.

* * *

"You didn't have to hold onto his arm like that baka." The voice of Sakura scolded.

Shikamaru slowly stirred. To his surprise, his chest did not hurt. He expected it to hurt for the next couple of weeks courtesy of Naruto's rasengan. He opened his eye to see Sakura pouring green healing chakra into Lee.

"Sorry Sakura-chan… But I had to make sure we took Lee out, he's pretty resilient." Naruto apologized.

"You nearly tore his arm out of socket! It was just a friendly spar Naruto." Sakura continued to scold.

"Well luckily you're here to heal him right up Sakura-chan!"

Shikamaru watched as the pink-haired kunoichi sighed.

"Next time we spar someone you'll provide most of the distractions and I'll take them out. You're terrible at holding back. I had to use a lot of chakra to heal Shikamaru, and now Lee. If you'll notice, I was able to heal Ino and Neji quickly."

"Ah so you're why my chest doesn't hurt." The lazy genius spoke up, alerting his two former opponents that he was awake.

"Shikamaru! I'm glad you're awake." Sakura smiled as she continued healing Lee.

"How did you guys do it?" Shikamaru asked instantly. He honestly had no idea how Sakura managed to creep up on him, much less how Naruto was able to flash to him instantly without the use of a three-pronged kunai.

"We'll tell you once everyone wakes up, I have a feeling they'll have the exact same question." Naruto replied.

"We're already awake." Neji said as he, Chouji, Ino and Lee opened their eyes.

"I would also like to hear your answer. I could track most of your movements, but a couple of times I lost track of the two of you even with my sharingan." Kakashi, Tsunade, Gai, Sai, Iruka, Shino, Hinata and Kiba walked up to them.

"Ok, let me start by telling you how Sakura and I work together." Naruto said to the large group. "I have a large chakra reserve, great stamina and have exceptional strength and speed. But I'm completely useless with genjutsu. It's one of my few weaknesses in battle."

"Wait… you didn't use that genjutsu to start the fight?" Shikamaru asked confused.

"No, but I'll get to that in a second." Naruto said. "Now not only can I not use genjutsus, but I have a difficult time figuring out when I'm under the influence of one."

"I on the other hand, am excellent with genjutsus." Sakura said. "I've always been good at detecting them so I can alert Naruto when he's under one, and even break him out of genjutsus if need be. But I also spent the past year training with a genjutsu specialist and have become sort of a genjutsu master. My genjutsus even worked on Itachi when Naruto and I fought him."

"That's quite impressive Sakura." Kakashi complimented.

"Thanks. Now unlike Naruto, my chakra reserves are fairly low, and my stamina is nowhere near as good as his so I can't last as long in a direct fight." Sakura continued.

"So Naruto engages the enemy head on while you support him with genjutsus and heal him when he takes damage?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's basically it. I also use my chakra enhanced strength to back him up whenever I see an opening, and I can also use my water jutsus to attack from a distance." Sakura clarified.

"A solid strategy, but what happens if an enemy manages to get past Naruto and start engaging you head on Sakura?" The lazy Nara asked.

Sakura simply responded by taking off her shirt, causing all of the males to get a nosebleed and blush.

"Sakura what are you…" Tsunade started. The hokage was interrupted by a chakra tattoo suddenly showing up over Sakura's heart. It was an image of a pink cherry blossom tree with a golden fox laying at its base. The strange thing is that it sort of looked like it was made up of some sort of seal…"

"I figured out a way to alter my father's seals so that I can put a permanent chakra tattoo on an individual." Naruto explained as the group stared at Sakura's tattoo in awe. "That tattoo is a seal that allows me to instantly flash to Sakura."

"But that's not all it does." The pinkette quickly added as she fixed her knucklehead with a proud smile. "I can also push chakra into this seal to call Naruto to me at anytime."

"That's very impressive Naruto." Kakashi stated.

"It also alerts Naruto whenever I'm poisoned or my body is pierced so that if I ever get in a situation where I don't have time to call for Naruto, he will still be alerted that I need him and can instantly flash to my side."

"That's so sweet!" Ino cooed with awestruck eyes.

"Ya… it is." Sakura said softly as she put her shirt back on.

"Ok… so if an enemy ever gets close to you, Naruto can instantly flash to your side and defend you. That makes sense now." Shikamaru said. "Now are you going to tell us how you easily defeated us?"

Naruto chuckled. "Ya, I think we can get to that now."

"Well I casted a genjutsu at the very start of the fight that caused everyone to see Naruto attacking Neji, because Neji was a logical choice for who to take out first due to his gentle fist." Sakura said. "But he wasn't our actual first target. While everyone was distracted by the genjutsu, I used another genjutsu to disappear and began creeping towards our true target, Shikamaru."

"Ah, taking out the brains of operation first. Smart." Kakashi observed.

"While I was creeping towards Shikamaru, Naruto used the distraction provided by my initial genjutsu to summon two sage kage bunshins. One burrowed into the ground and began drawing in nature chakra while monitoring the fight with a sage's chakra sensing abilities, and Naruto henged the other into me."

"I distracted Lee, while my henged clone distracted everyone else and used sage-enhanced senses to dodge Tenten, Chouji and Neji's attacks. This provided Sakura-chan with the distraction she needed to easily sneak up behind Shikamaru. She trapped him with her chakra chains and alerted me with the seal I gave her. I used the seal to flash to her and prepared to take the restrained Shikamaru out of the fight."

_So that's how they got me… _Shikamaru thought. _I was beat as soon as I failed to notice Sakura's initial genjutsu…_

"Naruto's clone that had burrowed into the ground sensed Ino's attack and used my seal to flash to me and defend us from Ino's shurikens. Once Naruto took care of Shikamaru, I fought off Ino's mental attack and cast a genjutsu on Lee to distract him and the others. Then I attacked a weakened Ino. As soon as I saw the rest of their team focus on Ino's body, I cast a genjutsu on Naruto causing him to disappear, allowing him to get to the tree line and prepare another attack."

Neji's eyes widened. _She was able to cast a genjutsu in that short period of time?_

"While I was hiding amongst the trees, I placed a hirashin seal on the trunk of a tree and observed the fight, looking for an opening. Lee's attack forced me out of hiding and I caught his fist and held on while Sakura hit him with one of her chakra-enhanced punches."

"I punched up a wall of earth to protect us from Tenten's attack. Naruto tracked Neji's chakra using his sage mode and waited for Tenten's attack to end. Once it was finished Naruto threw Lee through the wall towards Neji and used the distraction to grab me and flash us to the seal he had placed on the tree earlier."

Kakashi looked at Naruto with a proud smile. _He's learned yet another way to utilize his sage mode in battle._

"Now that we were hidden, I summoned another kage bunshin which burrowed into the ground with Sakura-chan towards Chouji. Sakura attacked Chouji to provide me with a distraction to quickly flicker behind Tenten and knock her out of the fight. With Tenten out, I attacked Neji. I wasn't actually trying to beat him in a taijutsu battle, I just wanted to place a hirashin seal on him. I finally placed one on his shoulder, and threw a three-pronged kunai towards Chouji to catch him off guard with my hirashin."

"I saw Neji preparing to attack Naruto, so I cast a genjutsu on him that made him see Naruto two feet to the right of where Naruto actually was. As a result of my genjutsu, Neji's attack missed and Naruto took out Chouji. I then attacked Neji to distract him from Naruto."

_So that's how my attack missed… I had no idea I was under a genjutsu…_ Neji thought as he continued to listen to his former opponents explain their attacks.

"With Neji distracted, he didn't stand a chance at reacting when I flashed to the seal I had placed on his shoulder. The second I flashed in front of him, Sakura pushed chakra into her legs and got behind him. I punched Neji in the gut, but it wasn't enough to completely take him out. That's when Sakura-chan walked up behind him and cast a sleeping genjutsu on him, to knock him out. And that's how we did it." Naruto finished, smiling at Sakura.

The group stared at the duo dumbfounded.

Kakashi was the first to speak. "That was very impressive teamwork you two. And Sakura, your abilities with genjutsus are very impressive. You were able to fool both Neji's byakugan and my sharingan. Naruto, the fact that you were easily able to stay in sage mode the entire fight, and your subtle use of your kage bunshins is quite impressive, not to mention your mastery of the hirashin." The copy said with a one-eyed smile.

"You both perfectly backed up each other's weaknesses as well. Naruto, the use of your father's seal to instantly flash to Sakura's side not just to protect her, but to also catch your opponent's off guard is brilliant. Sakura, your subtle uses of genjutsus to provide Naruto with distractions to take out your enemies is truly remarkable. I'm very proud of you both." Tsunade complimented with a proud smile.

Naruto and Sakura simply grinned sheepishly at the praise.

"I'm really glad you both are on our side." Kiba said with a grin. "I would hate to have to go up against you guys. Kabuto and his army are screwed against us now."

A serious look replaced the grin on Naruto's face. "Not exactly Kiba. We're strong, but it's impossible to kill someone revived by the edo-tensei. I was able to stop Itachi by transferring nature chakra into him, but with my poor chakra control I completely exhausted my chakra. So I could realistically only stop one revived person."

"There has to be another way to stop the edo-tensei." Shikamaru said.

"And that's what we need to figure out." Sakura added. "I'm not going to let Naruto push nature chakra into another revived person, the baka was out for 6 days afterwards. His chakra replenished much slower than normal."

"Oh it wasn't that bad Sakura-chan." Naruto said with a sheepish grin.

WHAM!

"Yes it was baka and don't you try to downplay it."

"That hurt Sakura-chan…" Naruto complained from his new spot on the ground.

"Umm… perhaps our gentle fists could close off all of a revived persons tenketsu?" Hinata asked.

Naruto frowned. "I doubt that would work. The edo-tensei was able to regenerate Itachi even after I hit him with my rasenshuriken. It only took about a minute for his chakra networks to be completely repaired."

"Perhaps we could look at the Nidaime Hokage's notes on the edo-tensei to find a way to beat it?" Shino suggested.

"I doubt it." Tsunade replied. "After he created the technique, he quickly labeled it a Kinjutsu and never completed it."

"It wouldn't hurt to take a look." Sai injected.

Tsunade sighed. "I suppose you're right. I'll read through his notes and see if I can find anything."

Naruto's stomach let out a loud growl.

"Well, we can figure this out later. Let's go to Ichiraku's!" Naruto cheered.

"I don't think so baka. You had your ramen quota and then some for the week yesterday." Sakura scolded.

"NANI? Ramen quota? Sakura-chan, I can never have too much ramen!" Naruto replied with a horrified look on his face.

"I'm an expert medinin Naruto. If I say you can eat too much ramen, then you can eat too much ramen. And I'm officially limiting the amount of ramen you can eat per week."

"Sakura-chaaan, that's not fair." The future hokage whined.

"Deal with it. I'm going to start making you eat healthier to ensure we have a longer life together." Sakura huffed.

Knowing that he was defeated, Naruto dropped his head to the ground. The surrounding group couldn't help but laugh as the man who was destined to save the world was defeated by the small pink-haired medinin.

* * *

A newly revived Zabuza stood before a meditating Kabuto.

"Did you get what I requested of you?" Kabuto asked without opening his eyes.

"It was a big pain in the ass… but yes. I had to go to the very bottom of the ocean."

Kabuto opened his eyes and sneered at the undead man. Zabuza handed him a vial with a single white hair in it.

"You did well Zabuza. I'll allow you to keep your freedom as long as you continue to obey me."

"It's not really freedom when I'm doing your every whim." Zabuza snorted.

"Well, if you're not happy with it I can just strip you of your personality now and turn you into a mindless drone.

_I hate being used…_ Zabuza thought bitterly as he tried to figure out a way to kill Kabuto.

"Now now now Zabuza-san, if you try to kill me I won't give you any freedom." Kabuto lectured in a mocking tone. "You need to understand that you are simply my puppet now."

"Bastard…" Zabuza growled.

Kabuto sneered at the undead demon of the mist. "Your next task is going to be considerably easier. I just need you to go visit a couple of graves in Konoha."

Zabuza simply glared at Kabuto as his body began walking out of the hideout.

* * *

Naruto and the rest of the group ended up going to Chouji's favorite barbeque restaurant and were currently gathered around a large table stuffing their faces with delicious barbeque food.

"So I've been wanting to ask you ever since you got back Naruto, what made you decide to give up orange?" Ino asked.

Naruto smiled at the pink-haired kunoichi who was currently sitting very close to him. "This was an anniversary gift from Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he pointed at his new jumpsuit and forehead protector.

"Good job Sakura, he looks much better now that he's not walking around in that stupid orange jumpsuit." Ino said with a grin.

"Hey!" Naruto cried out indignantly.

"Naruto looked cute in his old orange jumpsuit." Sakura defended to the entire group's surprise, including Naruto's. "But you're right, he looks much better in red, and we match now."

"Whpch!" Kiba made the whipping noise. "You are so whipped Naruto."

"Damn straight he is!" Sakura responded. "You know what lengths I had to go to in order to get him to actually be with me. I own the pants in this relationship!"

Naruto looked away embarrassingly as the rest of the table erupted into laughter.

"Just so you know Kiba…" Naruto said as the laughter died down. "I'm not as whipped as you think. I can do anything I want; I just let Sakura-chan think she's in control." The jinchuriki said as he puffed his chest out.

"Ah so that's why you're not eating ramen dickless?" Sai asked.

Sakura simply responded by putting her knucklehead in a headlock and lightly bopping him on the head. "Care to repeat that Naruto?"

"Ow ow ow! Ok Sakura-chan, I give I give!"

Sakura released Naruto from the headlock, and upon seeing his pouting face kissed him on the cheek. Naruto's pout was replaced by a grin as he felt Sakura's lips press into his cheek, much to the amusement of everyone at the table.

"Like I said Naruto… whpch!"

"Shut up Kiba…" The future hokage grumbled.

* * *

Madara stared down at his newest Akatsuki recruit. The man was short, standing at about 5'6 and had short black hair and dull grey eyes. He didn't look like much, but Madara needed someone who could keep an eye on Kabuto, and the Kazekage killed his original Zetsu last year. The man before him seemed to be even better than Zetsu at information gathering.

"Are you clear on your mission?"

"Hai Madara-sama. I'm to observe Kabuto without him knowing and report his every move to you." The short man replied.

"That is correct. The second Kabuto says or does anything that makes it seem like he might betray me, alert me. If he even thinks about betraying me I will destroy him."

"Hai Madara-sama." The black-haired man said before disappearing into a shadow.

* * *

Jutsu list:

Hakkesho Kaiten- Heavenly Spin

Nikudan Sensha- Human Meat Tank

Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu- Multiple Shadow Clone Technique

Shintenshin no Jutsu- Mind Body Switch Technique

Soshoryu- Rising Twin Dragons

Cho Baika no Jutsu- Super Expansion Jutsu

Hakke Kusho- Eight Trigrams Empty Palm

Neru-No-Jutsu- Sleeping Technique

* * *

I know Naruto and Sakura wiped the floor with Team 10 and Team Gai, but this chapter was all about showing how powerful Naruto and Sakura have grown after spending a year of training at the temple. Don't worry though, members of Team 10 and Team Gai will be showing off their awesomeness later in the story when Kabuto's army shows up.

Please do review!


	5. Calm Before the Storm

Here's an fluffy and extra long chapter 5.

As always, I appreciate the reviews/favorites/alerts =)

Shout out and my thanks to everyone who reviewed since last time: saveme57, Echo Uchiha, Jozern, Cloud Ex-SOLDIER, Toasty Warrior, TheOmegaMan, Stryker114, butterflyV, melapoy, ZeroTail29, Blazing CobaltX, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Nutt Man 117, Goddess of night Eternal Faith, Darious Frost

* * *

**saveme57: **Ya, give Naruto and Sakura a year to do nothing but train and they'll come back as badasses =P

**Echo Uchiha:** Thanks =)

**Jozern:** I probably won't give Naruto too many more jutsus. I'm thinking about putting in my wind explosion from my story "Guardian," but I'm not entirely sold on it yet. As for hirashin- it's "limit" in this story is that it takes a decent amount of chakra. Thus why so far every time I've had Naruto use it he's been in sage mode. And I agree, Naruto does need someone to keep him grounded =)

**Cloud Ex-SOLDIER:** Sakura was able to silently creep up behind Neji because Naruto had punched him in the gut. Ino could see Sakura coming at her, even if she wasn't able to react, and since they were so outnumbered, Sakura needed to make sure she could take Ino out with one hit. I'm glad you enjoyed the battle scene and chapter =)

**Toasty Warrior: **Thanks! I'm glad you liked it. We'll just have to wait and see how they fare against Kabuto and Madara =)

**TheOmegaMan: **:D And ya... Kabuto plays dirty! I hope you didn't get in any trouble for laughing out loud in class =P

**Stryker114: **Lee was able to land a hit when he caught Naruto off guard by quickly opening a gate in the beginning of the fight! Shikamaru and co. will definitely prove themselves in the war =)

**butterflyV: **True, but Sakura requesting a training mission and dragging Naruto along on it is still fresh in everyone's minds. So I would say that's how she got away with it =)

**melapoy: **Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it =)

**ZeroTail29: **Haha. Sakura just has a habit of beating Naruto whenever she feels he acts out. I shall keep your words in mind though =) Also, I'm glad you're enjoying my story thus far!

**Blazing CobaltX: **I'm glad you liked it! Sakura taking her shirt off was a subtle way of showing how her confidence has groaned. In the manga, Sakura tends to think poorly of herself. So the fact that she has the confidence to take off her shirt shows how much her confidence has grown! Well... that's what I intended for it to do anyways =P

**Kyuubi loves NaruSaku: **/e whistles innocently. Glad you like Naruto's new outfit and Lee's children are a terrifying thought =P Also, I don't think it would help Naruto's hokage chances out too much if he transformed into the monster that terrified the village all those years ago ;)

**Nutt Man 117**: OMG THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!

**Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: **Haha, no worries =) I'm glad you're enjoying this story so far. The battle will not begin this chapter, this chapter is one last fluffy chapter. Next chapter the war begins.

**Darious Frost: **Glad you enjoyed it =) And ya, every man is whipped by the woman he loves, whether he'll admit it or not =P Don't wrack your mind too much for the new man who's better than Zetsu was. Madara is still the main bad guy, but he's currently distracted with recruiting new Akatsuki members. This man is the first OC for the story, and he won't play any more prominent role than keeping Madara informed of Kabuto's actions.

* * *

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura would've succeeded in removing Kakashi's mask. I'm curious to what he's hiding under there damnit!

Anyways... Onto the show. Please do enjoy "A Jinchuriki's Strength"- Chapter 5: Calm Before the Storm

* * *

Shikamaru sat in the morning son just outside the Nara household with his legs crossed; his eyes were solely focused on a shogi board. He had been sitting like that for the past hour. It had been 3 days since Naruto and Sakura easily defeated both Team 10 and Team Gai at the same time.

"Shikamaru!" Ino greeted as his father led her to him.

"Ino." Shikamaru replied without taking his eyes off the board.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm trying to think of any signs I could have missed that would have alerted me that Sakura used a genjutsu to start our fight."

"You still aren't over that? Shikamaru, that was 3 days ago. Both Naruto and Sakura spent an entire year doing nothing but training while our training was constantly interrupted by going on missions. Don't feel bad." Ino said, attempting to make her friend feel better.

"It's only a matter of time until Kabuto's army is on our doorstep, and I know that Tsunade will look to me for some kind of strategy to get us out of this alive. Yet, I just lost a battle in which my squad outnumbered my opponents' squad 6-2 all because I failed to recognize that my squad had been tricked by a genjutsu." Shikamaru growled.

Ino looked at her teammate in surprise. _Usually Shikamaru wouldn't care about something like this. He would just say something about it being a troublesome situation in the first place…_

"But you don't have to worry about fighting Naruto or Sakura, so why look for signs that could help you beat them when you could be focusing on strategies for the coming war?"

"As we found out 3 days ago, pre-planned strategies have the potential to work well, but often are disrupted. More often than not, its strategies formed in the middle of a battle that saves the day. Naruto and Sakura showed me that I need to work on those strategies." The lazy jonin explained.

"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself!" Ino said, again hoping to make her friend feel better.

"I'm not being hard on myself. I'm not saying that I'm the reason we lost our fight with Naruto and Sakura, I'm simply saying that it showed me I have room for improvement. If Konoha is depending on my mind to navigate us through war, then I need to ensure that it is as sharp as possible so we take as little casualties as possible."

Ino nodded her head as she took in her teammate's words, but still thought he seemed a little down. The platinum blonde again opened her mouth to offer more words of encouragement but Shikamaru interrupted her.

"Besides, I could care less if we lost to Naruto and Sakura. It was a troublesome situation to begin with. And it's probably better that we got so soundly defeated. Now the villagers will feel much safer with Naruto and Sakura's presence and our armies can rally around them. Us losing was the best thing that could have happened to Konoha."

"I understand now." Ino said as she proudly smiled at her teammate. "You've come a long way from your younger days Shikamaru. I never would've thought the laziest academy student in all of history would've ended up spending all his time improving his mind so that he could lead Konoha's army to victory."

"Tch... whatever. I'm only doing this because it would be too troublesome to have the village lose the war because of me." Shikamaru grumbled, obviously not thrilled about indirectly being called a hard worker.

"Whatever you say Shikamaru." Ino responded as she turned to leave.

"Oh wait!" The platinum blonde yelled out after she had taken a few steps. "I forgot the main reason I had come over here. Chouji invited all of the Rookie 9, Team Gai and Sai out to a sort of impromptu party at his family's barbecue restaurant on the north side. This is the first time in a while that we've all been in Konoha at the same time."

"What time?" Shikamaru asked. Truth be told, a reunion with everyone did seem nice. They were currently experiencing the calm before the storm of war, it was only a matter of time until the storm arrived, and who knew when they would all be able to get together again? Who knew if they would all be able to get together again…

"7:00; don't be late!" Ino answered, and then turned back around and walked out of the Nara compound.

* * *

"Red Shadow, report in." A spiky-haired blonde man said quietly into the headset he was wearing as his red sage cloak flapped in the breeze. Naruto stared down at the village from his hiding spot.

"Red Shadow here, nothing's changed. Pink Bear is still asleep." Whispered an identical voice to the blonde's.

Naruto sighed and jumped from his perch and began speeding towards the jewelry shop.

"Gold Shadow, report." Naruto ordered.

"Gold Shadow here, you still don't seem to be under any sort of genjutsu." Gold Shadow replied.

_Good, everything is going according to plan so far. Leaving my kage bunshin in bed with Sakura-chan has kept her from waking up and noticing I'm gone. But just in case, I have another kage bunshin tailing me on the off chance Sakura-chan saw through my plan and casts a genjutsu on me._

Naruto and Sakura had been back in Konoha for 4 days and he had yet to get Sakura the anniversary gift he promised her would be waiting in Konoha. But today that was going to change. He and Sakura had spent literally all of their time together during the past 4 days. Which didn't bother Naruto, in fact, he loved it. But it did make buying a gift hard with his girlfriend constantly being around.

But today everything was going to change. Naruto had devised his brilliant scheme with his kage bunshins and borrowed a set of radios from Kakashi-sensei. Today, Sakura Haruno was going to get the best anniversary gift ever.

"Sapphire Fox approaching target." Naruto announced to his two clone teammates.

"I detect no genjutsus Sapphire fox." Gold Shadow announced.

Naruto walked up to the door just as the shopkeeper flipped the sign to open. The shopkeeper smiled upon seeing the powerful young sage and opened the door for him.

"Ah Naruto-sama, it's a pleasure to see you. What brings you by so early this morning hmm?" The long grey-haired shopkeeper asked with a smile on her wrinkled face.

"I need to get my girlfriend a gift for our 1 year anniversary gift…" The jinchuriki started.

"Ah so it's true that you and Sakura-sama are dating?" The old woman interrupted with a pleasant smile.

Naruto blushed a little and sheepishly grinned while scratching the back of his head. Even though he had been with Sakura for more than a year now, it still sometimes felt weird to say that she was his girlfriend. It still was sometimes hard to believe that he had finally won the heart of the woman of his dreams.

"Hehe… yea. But I promised her that I had an awesome anniversary gift waiting for her when we got back to Konoha, but it was all a bluff. And now we've been back for 4 days, I don't want her to think that I forgot about getting her a gift!"

"Relax Naruto-sama. The entire village is abuzz with talk about you and Sakura-sama, everyone is saying how in love you two are. I'm sure Sakura-sama won't get angry at you." The shopkeeper attempted to soothe.

"She probably wouldn't, but I still want to get her something special. You know… to show her that I really care about her…" Naruto said softly.

The old woman's gray eyes twinkled. "I think I have just the thing!" The shopkeeper walked into the back room and returned with a bunch of engagement rings, causing Naruto's eyes to bulge out of his skull.

"NANI?" The startled blonde yelled.

"Not so loud Sapphire Fox! If you keep yelling like that, Pink Bear might hear it and wake up." Red Shadow whispered worriedly. Naruto could practically hear the sweat fall from Red Shadow's body as he stared nervously at Sakura to see if she was awoken by Naruto's yell.

"What? You said you wanted to show Sakura how much you care about her right? Well an engagement ring will do that better than any other piece of jewelry you could buy. An engagement ring would show her that you care so much that you want to spend the rest of your life with her." The gray-haired woman explained.

"I… I don't know if we're there yet." Naruto replied honestly. "I mean, we both love each other very much, and I know that we'll end up together in the end, but I don't know if we're ready for marriage right now.

Sapphire eyes scanned the engagement rings until they fell upon one particular ring. Its silver band was littered with tiny little emeralds that ended up circling around a large, sparkling 2 carat diamond.

_That ring is perfect for Sakura-chan…_ Naruto thought as he stared at it in awe.

"Ah you have a good eye Naruto-sama. I'm sure Sakura-sama would love this one. Here, take it." The old woman said, shoving the expensive ring into Naruto's hand.

"What? No… I can't afford this. And like I said, we're not ready for marriage yet." Naruto replied as he tried to hand the ring back.

The shopkeeper refused to take the ring and smiled at the blonde hero. "Then we'll make a deal then. You hang onto that ring for now, and when you finally decide that you're ready and give it to Sakura, you can come and pay me. Also we can make the payments something as little as 800 yen a month."

"That's too much. This ring is easily worth 750,000 yen. There is no way I would pay you back in your lifetime or mine!"

"That's ok Naruto-sama. Look at this as an apology for the way our village treated you when you were little, and a thank you for always protecting us anyways. I don't really care about the money all that much, an old bag like myself doesn't have all that much use for the stuff anyways."

Naruto stood rooted in the spot as he stared at the old shopkeeper in shock. He opened his mouth to offer some sort of response.

"I…I don't know what to say…I don't even know your name." The future hokage stammered.

The shopkeeper chuckled at the shocked hero. "Oh is that all you need to take this? My name is Kaori then."

Naruto bowed his head to the old shopkeeper as a sign of respect. "Thank you Kaori-san, thank you so much." When his head shot back up the wrinkled woman was surprised to see tears pooling in the powerful jinchuriki's eyes.

"You're welcome Naruto-sama. But don't think you're going to get Sakura's 1 year anniversary gift for free!" The old woman teased, putting the Yondaime's legacy back on track by reminding him of his original purpose for visiting.

"Oh crap! That's right! I still need to get Sakura-chan a gift for our anniversary!" The blonde nearly yelled.

"Sapphire Fox…" Red Shadow growled quietly. "I already warned you once." Naruto ignored his kage bunshin and began glancing around the shop. His eyes landed on a flawless sapphire that was hanging from a beautiful gold chain.

"I figured you would find that one." The shopkeeper grinned as she grabbed the necklace and walked behind the register.

"Ok… That will be 800 yen please."

"NANI?" Naruto again yelled. "THAT NECKLACE IS THAT CHEAP? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?"

"Mmmm… Naruto good morning." The jinchuriki heard a familiar voice whisper.

"Umm… good morning Sakura-chan." Naruto heard Red Shadow stammer nervously.

"Wait a minute… you're not Naruto." Sakura growled. "Where the hell is he?"

"SAPPHIRE FOX, PINK BEAR HAS WOKEN UP. I REPEAT PINK BEAR HAS WOKEN UP!" Red Shadow yelled in a panicked voice.

"PINK BEAR?" Sakura roared. "BEAR?" Naruto heard a familiar poof and his brain was flooded with the memory of the fist of a white-eyed Sakura meeting his face. The jinchuriki sighed. _This isn't good._

"Ok Naruto, what the hell is going on?" Sakura asked, she had obviously found the radio after she dispelled the clone.

"Oh hey good morning Sakura-chan!" Naruto greeted innocently. "Sleep good?"

"That didn't answer my question baka!"

Naruto gulped nervously. Sakura wasn't going to like his answer one bit. "Umm… well… I sort of can't tell you Sakura-chan. It's a secret."

"Hey whose on this channel?" A voice that sounded very similar to Naruto's except a little lower. _Good thinking Gold Shadow!_ Naruto thought excitedly.

"Oh no, Sakura-chan our channel has been compromised. Maintain radio silence immediately!"

"Naruto I know that's one of your…"

"Radio silence Sakura-chan, Naruto out!" The blonde quickly shut off his headset before Sakura could get in another word. He instantly felt a familiar pull which meant that Sakura was calling him to her. He could practically feel her anger radiate through the seal.

The old shopkeeper chuckled at the normally confident jinchuriki. "Sakura-sama found out huh?"

Naruto sighed. "Ya… she better like this necklace as it's my only chance at survival now. But seriously, how is it only 700 yen?"

"Well, it's normally 21,000 yen, but with your hero's discount it's only 700." The old woman explained innocently. The young sage shot her a grateful smile as he paid her the small amount of money.

"Would you like the engagement ring engraved Naruto-sama?"

Naruto thought for a second and grinned. "That would be great" He looked around suspiciously, now that Sakura was awake she could burst into the shop any second. Then again, she was still using her seal to call him to her, so maybe she hadn't moved yet.

_Better to be safe than sorry…_ Naruto thought as he leaned in and whispered something into the old woman's ear. The old woman chuckled.

"She'll love it Naruto-sama." To the blonde's surprise, the old woman formed some hand signs and pressed her finger to the band. The words instantly engraved themselves into the inside of the band in beautiful writing.

"How did you…"

"What? Just because I'm old you don't think I know any ninjutsu? I was a pretty strong kunoichi back in my hay day!" The woman said proudly as she put the ring in a small black box, and the necklace in a long and narrow black box.

She handed the small black box to Naruto and wrapped the narrow box in orange wrapping paper, and then handed him that as well.

"There you are Naruto-sama. Thank you for stopping by today and good luck surviving your girlfriend."

Naruto chuckled nervously. "Thanks, I'm going to need it." The blonde focused on the seal that his girlfriend was still angrily pushing chakra into and disappeared in a yellow flash.

* * *

Sakura was sitting in the apartment she now shared with Naruto, pumping chakra into her seal calling her knucklehead to her.

_Jeeze! First I wake up to find he snuck out of the apartment and left a kage bunshin in his place… Then he gives me the code name "Pink Bear" and now he won't even tell me what he's doing? And when the hell is this baka going to answer my call, I've been pushing chakra into my seal for a good 6 minutes now…_

Before the pinkette could think any more angry thoughts, she felt a familiar warmth on her body as her boyfriend flashed in front of her.

"Baka!" Sakura yelled as she reared her fist back to teach the knucklehead a lesson. She was surprised when Naruto actually caught her fist, although he winced in pain from the contact. She had put a lot of chakra behind that punch.

"Wait Sakura-chan… Before you send me to the hospital, I had a good reason. Here, happy anniversary!"

Sakura's face instantly transformed into a soft smile as she looked at the narrow orange package her boyfriend was holding in front of her with a nervous looked on his face. Green chakra enveloped the hand that Naruto still had a hold of, and instantly removed the pain from the jinchuriki's hand. She took the package from Naruto and gently opened it to reveal a long block box.

Flipping the box opened Sakura's eyes widened and she couldn't resist letting out an excited squeal. "Oh Naruto! It's so beautiful!" The pinkette cooed as she picked up the necklace. It wasn't the most elegant necklace, but the sapphire perfectly matched his eyes. Now she could always hold him over her heart.

The future hokage took the necklace out of her hand and placed it around her porcelain neck. Sakura quickly smashed her lips against her boyfriend's.

"I'm so sorry I was mad at you!" She apologized to the now grinning blonde.

"It's alright Sakura-chan. You didn't know." Sakura gave Naruto another quick peck on the lips before running and examining herself in the mirror. _This necklace is perfect…_ The pinkette thought as she turned her head to give Naruto another smile.

* * *

"Ah Zabuza, good to see you again. I trust you had a nice trip."

"I thought you were dirty before, but this is really dirty Kabuto." Zabuza grumbled as he handed the snake-like man two vials, one with a piece of red hair, and another with a piece of blonde.

"Our enemy is very powerful Zabuza, we'll need every advantage we can get to defeat him."

Zabuza grimaced at Kabuto's words.

_I don't really like to think of Naruto as an enemy. I owe him a lot for opening my eyes… And now I have to help destroy him. This sucks…_

_

* * *

_

An exhausted Lee stood panting before the remains of a giant rock. Blood dripped from his fists, but he smiled proudly. _Gai-sensei is going to be pleased with my youthful strength!_

_FLASH BACK_

_The sun was setting and Lee was standing on the training grounds where Naruto and Sakura had so effortlessly dispatched of his team and Team 10 with very little effort._

"_I've trained so hard, yet there are still others who are so much stronger than me…" The bushy-browed boy muttered._

"_Of course there are Lee." Gai said in a surprisingly calm tone as he walked up behind his student. "There's always going to be someone stronger. They're who push us to train harder so that we can catch up and pass them."_

_Lee looked up at his idol with curious eyes. "But what if I can never catch up Gai-sensei. I'm starting to doubt if I can ever beat Naruto-kun with only taijutsu…"_

"_IMPOSTER!" Gai suddenly yelled. "WHO ARE YOU AND WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY PRECIOUS STUDENT LEE?"_

_Lee's eyes widened as his master yelled at him._

"_You know what the power of hard work can do! If you want to beat Naruto, then you're going to have to become stronger and faster so you can battle him when he's in sage mode. I want you to double your weights and then shatter that rock over there with your fists." Guy said as he pointed to a giant boulder. The rock was about the same size as a small house. "After that, you are to run 500 laps around Konoha. If you haven't finished breaking the rock and running your laps by sunrise then you will do it again tomorrow."_

"_YOSH! THANK YOU GAI-SENSEI! I WILL USE MY POWER OF HARDWORK TO BECOME STRONGER AND SURPASS NARUTO-KUN AND SAKURA-CHAN!" The previously somber bushy-browed boy yelled._

_Gai placed his hands on Lee's weights and the young jonin nearly fell over when his weights were doubled. But Lee gritted his teeth and walked towards the giant boulder. _

_FLASH IN_

"I better run my laps quick!" Lee yelled to no one in particular. "Chouji's party is going to start in 1 hour!" Ignoring the strain on his body from his weights, Lee took off to start his laps.

* * *

"Sakura-chan aren't you ready yet? It's already 6:50... we're going to be late!" Naruto complained from his spot on the couch. Sakura insisted that the two dress nice for the party tonight, although he didn't understand the point.

He was currently wearing a red button up shirt with the last two buttons unbuttoned, a pair of black dress pants, a black blazer and his red forehead protector with a pair of black open-toed ninja boots.

_This is such a pain…_ Naruto thought. Sakura had been getting ready for the past hour and a half now…

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto called out again. Hoping that if he pestered her enough she would miraculously be ready.

"Quiet down, I'm almost done Naruto!" Sakura yelled back.

_Great… by the time we get there Chouji will have eaten all the barbecue._

Naruto laid his head down on the couch he was sitting on, and as he had over a year ago allowed himself to get overwhelmed by Sakura's wonderful scent and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Sakura gave herself an approving look in the mirror. _SHANAROO! I look great! Naruto's not going to be able to take his eyes off me at all today!_ When Ino came by to tell her about Chouji's party earlier today, Sakura had gotten excited. She hadn't really had a chance to get all dressed up since her date with Naruto before they went to the Lightning Temple for training.

Much to her boyfriend's displeasure, Sakura instantly used Chouji's party as an excuse for them both to get dressed up. He had grumbled quite a bit, but after a quick kiss he relented. She smiled as she looked at herself.

She was wearing a tight black shirt with sleeves that just barely made it past her shoulders, and a short red mini-skirt that made it halfway in between her thighs and knees. Her legs were covered in fishnet stockings and Sakura had put on glossy red lipstick. She wore Naruto's necklace proudly over the shirt, and had put on a very generous amount of makeup to make her look flawless in her opinion. She topped her outfit off with a pair of red Konoha symbol earrings. Lastly her pink hair was pulled back in a ponytail, with her bangs framing her face.

_I look good._ Sakura repeated to herself with a smile. Naruto had been strangely quiet for the past 10 minutes. He had been badgering her for the past hour to finish up. She walked out into the living room to see her boyfriend laying on the couch.

"I'm ready Naruto." She called. When she got no response she walked over to the couch to see her knucklehead asleep; just like he had been before their first date over a year ago. She looked at the clock to see it was 7:00.

"Oh well." She muttered softly. "It's better to be fashionably late to a party right?"

Sakura sat down on the couch and laid Naruto's head onto her lap and began stroking his hair as she stared down at him lovingly.

* * *

Sakura and a dazed Naruto finally arrived at Chouji's party at 7:45. Sakura giggled as she remembered her boyfriend's response when he woke up.

"Naruto, we're here. Stop staring off into the distance." Sakura playfully scolded bringing the blonde out of his daze.

"Huh? Oh Sakura-chan… Right. Sorry about that."

The whiskered blonde shook his thoughts trying to clear his head. He just couldn't shake the memory of waking up from his "nap" from his mind.

_FLASHBACK_

_Naruto slowly stirred awake, he was slightly aware that his head was resting on a comfortable pillow and something was running through his hair. The most amazing scent filled his nostrils and briefly debated going back to sleep. But no, he had to go to Chouji's party._

_The blonde tiredly opened his eyes and was greeted by two beautiful, warm and loving emerald eyes. Naruto couldn't help but gasp when he saw the look on Sakura's face… It was so full of love… The blonde's mind flashed to the little black box he had in his pocket as suddenly his doubt was washed away._

_Just seeing the look on Sakura's face as she softly stroked his hair made him realize that he was ready to take the next step, and he was pretty sure Sakura was too. Naruto Uzumaki wanted to propose to Sakura Haruno._

"_You're finally awake." Sakura greeted with that beautiful smile._

"_Mmm… yea." Naruto replied in a dazed tone. He still couldn't believe what he just figured out._

"_As much as I would love to just stay here, we have a party to go. So come on, let's go." _

"_Alright Sakura-chan." Naruto responded as he reluctantly left the comfort of his girlfriend's lap to sit up._

_FLASH IN_

_I'm going to do it. I'm going to propose to Sakura-chan._ The blonde thought determinately. His eyes widened when he realized he had forgotten something very important in his dazed state.

"Oh Sakura-chan?"

"Yes Naruto?"

"Before we get in there, I just want to let you know that you look absolutely beautiful tonight." The blonde softly said with a smile on his face.

Sakura's only response was a grateful smile and a quick peck on the lips. She grabbed the jinchuriki's hand and led him into the restaurant to join their friends.

"Well look who finally showed up 45 minutes late!" Ino announced as the two walked in. "Sakura you did a great job of fixing your sex hair. I would never know you just got laid a little while ago."

"SHUT UP PIG!" Sakura yelled as she blushed. She noticed that Naruto didn't blush with her from the corner of her eye, which was strange because he usually blushed whenever anyone talked about their sex life in front of them. He still had that dazed look on his face. _No… there's something else there. He's not just dazed… He looks kind of… nervous?_

Ino motioned for Naruto and Sakura to take the seats right next to her and Sakura led the pair to the seats. _I don't think he would've known to move if I didn't have a hold of his hand… He's been acting funny ever since he woke up… I wonder what's wrong with him._

Naruto sat down and greeted his friends with a head nod. _Should I do it tonight? It's a beautiful night… Sakura-chan looks great… I'm going to. Tonight is the night I've been waiting for ever since I was in the academy…_ A look of confidence overtook the blonde's face.

"Ne Sakura-chan, excuse me for a moment, I need to step outside for a second." Naruto said as he stood up.

"Are you feeling ok?" Sakura asked as she looked up at him with worried eyes.

He shot her a smile back. "I'm alright Sakura. Don't worry, I'll be right back."

Naruto walked out of the restaurant and breathed in the fresh night air. He looked up into the sky and grinned. _Good, it's a full moon tonight._ He closed his sapphire eyes and entered sage mode so he could keep an eye on Sakura's chakra.

Forming his familiar cross seal, Naruto softly muttered 5 words that had helped make him famous. "Taju Kage Bunshin no Jutsu." 30 Naruto clones poofed into existence.

"Ok guys, we have a very important mission in front of us tonight. We can afford no mistakes." Naruto told his clones. "Now gather in."

Naruto's clones huddled around him as Naruto whispered a series of commands.

* * *

Sakura watched as Naruto walked out of the restaurant. Something seemed off about him. He had been dazed and staring into the distance nervously ever since he had woken up. Then suddenly a look of confidence overtook his face and he left her.

"Ino I think something is wrong with Naruto." Sakura whispered so only the Yamanaka could here.

"Oh don't worry about it Sakura. You must be a good lay if you put him in a dazed state like that after sex." Ino said dismissively.

"We were not having sex pig." Sakura hissed angrily. "Naruto fell asleep waiting for me to get ready, and when I saw him I sat on the couch with his head in my lap and stroked his hair for a while. When he woke up he looked at me and he got that dazed look on his face. Then he started looking nervous, and just now he had a confident look on his face…" Sakura quietly explained.

"Ok… so what does that mean…" Ino drawled.

"I don't know… I know he loves me, but a small part of me can't help but worry that maybe he's tired of being with me. I mean… we've been together for a year now. And when we haven't been training we've always been with each other. Naruto had to set up an elaborate plan this morning just to get away from me long enough to buy me an anniversary gift… What if he was nervous about telling me he wanted to take a break because he was scared of what I would do to him? What if he decided he was going to do it and went outside to…"

"Ok Sakura you can shut up now." Ino interrupted. "You know as well as I do that Naruto getting tired of you is literally impossible… so stop worrying about it. Naruto has been in love with you for as long as you've known him, so calm down."

Ino's words calmed Sakura down. She knew her fears were stupid and irrational, she knew that the baka loved her.

"And besides, why would he have gotten you a beautiful and expensive necklace like that for an anniversary gift if he was thinking of breaking up with you?" Ino pointed out as she examined Sakura's new necklace.

Sakura smiled. "Isn't it beautiful?" She bragged, her brief moment of divulging in her irrational fear now behind her.

* * *

"Ok, does everyone got their assignments?" Naruto asked the clones huddled around him.

"HAI!" They yelled in unison causing Naruto to grin.

"Alright then! "Operation: Naruto Uzumaki's Super Awesome Perfect Marriage Proposal" begins now! Everyone move out!"

"YOSH!" The clones yelled before flickering away to complete their assigned jobs.

The Yondaime's legacy walked back into the restaurant and noticed Sakura's eyes instantly light up when she saw him. _Hehe, just you wait Sakura-chan, I'm going to give you a night you will never forget._

He retook his seat by his girlfriend's side.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked as soon as he was seated.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulder and smiled down at her. "I sure am Sakura-chan!"

"So Naruto…" Kiba said drawing the jinchuriki's attention. "You and Sakura easily beat 2 jonin teams. How much of your strength were you guys holding back?"

Naruto looked at Sakura as he tried to figure out the answer to that question.

"Hmm… well… let's see… I didn't use my kage bunshin hirashin ring, and I really didn't use that many kage bunshins in general during the fight. I also didn't use any of my wind jutsus or sage arts…"

"I didn't use any of my medical jutsus or any of my water jutsus…" Sakura added. "I also didn't need to use my Sasai Chakra no Jutsu to restore my chakra…"

"Does that answer your question?" Sakura asked looking at a wide-eyed Kiba. "It's kind of hard to put a numerical value to how much we were holding back, because we both used some of our most powerful techniques while still held back some of our most powerful techniques as well."

"Ya… that'll work." Kiba said as sweat dropped down his head.

"Well I just gotta say that I'm glad you two are on our side!" Chouji said with a grin. "You guys were unreal."

A very tired and exhausted Lee took that moment to enter the restaurant.

"Hello everyone." The bushy-browed man greeted with an exhausted voice. "I'm…"

"Lee!" Sakura quickly interrupted as her eyes landed on his bloody fists. "What happened to your fists?"

"Oh it's nothing Sakura-chan. I was just training so I could increase the power of my youth."

Sakura got up and grabbed Lee's hands causing the jumpsuit wearer to look away and blush.

"Just training? Lee your knuckles are completely shattered! I know you like to push yourself, but this is going way too far." Sakura admonished as her green chakra repaired Lee's shattered fists. Deciding that Lee showing signs of exhaustion was far too uncommon, Sakura decided to check the rest of his body for any injuries and gasped.

"Lee what training are you doing? Your entire body is strained. Both of your femurs are currently on the verge of fracturing and whatever is causing your body this strain is weakening the rest of it as well." Sakura poured more healing chakra into Lee, and 5 minutes later the bushy-browed boy was good as new.

"Thank you very much Sakura-san for healing me!"

"No problem Lee. Just promise me you won't ever push yourself that hard again."

Lee chose to simply grin at Sakura, deciding he didn't want to break a promise to her.

Sakura took the grin as his promise and returned to her seat by Naruto.

* * *

Chouji's party was going great. After Lee arrived late and Sakura healed his battered body, everyone pleasantly conversed while they enjoyed the barbeque. Shikamaru though, couldn't take his eyes off Naruto. The jinchuriki seemed to be acting a little strange. He doubted anyone else realized it. Sakura might have, but the blonde hid his strange attitude well. He had a slightly nervous look which he expertly hid behind a grin, and seemed to have an air of excitement about him; moreso than normal…

_What are you hiding Naruto…_ Shikamaru looked for any small sign that could clue him in on what Naruto was thinking, but couldn't find anything. He let out a sigh.

"Naruto, care to join me outside for a smoke?" Shikamaru asked causing Sakura to glare bloody daggers at him.

"I don't smoke Shikamaru." Naruto replied as he shot the Nara genius a questioning look.

"I know, but why don't you join me anyways? You don't have to actually smoke with me."

Naruto nodded and walked out into the night air with the lazy genius.

"Alright Naruto…" Shikamaru said as he grabbed a cigarette and stuck it in his mouth. "What's going on…" The Nara pulled out Asuma's lighter but his hand was stopped by Naruto's before he could light the cigarette.

"Sorry Shikamaru, but I can't let you smoke around me, not tonight. Tonight is going to be perfect for Sakura-chan, so I can't afford to smell like smoke."

"Tonight is going to be…" Shikamaru started before his mind finally put all the pieces together. "So you're already proposing to her."

Naruto grinned at his friend. "That's right! But Shikamaru… why do you care? You normally wouldn't go to all the trouble to find out something like this…"

"I came up with a pretty basic, but effective strategy to beat you and Sakura. We knew what you had been training in, so we could assume you mastered sage mode and the hirashin. But we didn't know what Sakura had trained in, making her an unkown. Add in the fact that she's a medinin and can heal any damage we do to you, I decided that we would take her out of the fight first."

"Ok…" Naruto said, not knowing why his friend was bringing this up.

"We were going to have Lee distract you, his taijutsu was better than yours before you left and your fighting style is heavily dependent on taijutsu and kage bunshins. So he could've distracted you long enough for Tenten, Chouji and Neji to quickly take Sakura out of the fight." Shikamaru continued.

"Ummm… Right…" Naruto drawled.

"It was a good plan, but it failed as soon as the fight began and I failed to realize that Sakura had cast a genjutsu on us." To Naruto's surprise, Shikamaru balled his hands into a fist. "You guys easily defeated us even though I had developed a good strategy to win before the fight. Had I been more aware when the fight began, I could've altered the strategy and we might have been able to win."

"Shikamaru… don't blame…"

"I don't." The Nara interrupted. "But now I know I need to improve, so until the war begins I'm going to search for any signs that I could've missed when I'm facing an unknown. I couldn't figure out why you were acting so weird, but now I can figure it all out. The nervous look on your face, yet the excited air you exude, the way you keep glancing at Sakura from the corner of your eye, I should've known that you were going to propose to her, and next time someone exhibits similar behavior I'll know to think of that."

"Ohhhhh." Naruto said as he finally understood what the Nara was saying. "Well… glad I could help Shikamaru!" The blonde said as he clapped his friend on the back. "Now let's get back to the party." Naruto and Shikamaru began walking back into the restaurant.

"Naruto." Shikamaru said just before the two walked through the door.

"What is it Shikamaru?"

"Good luck."

"Thanks."

* * *

The rest of the dinner went well and the night came to an end all too early for the young Konoha jonin. Sakura had greatly enjoyed the dinner and was happy to catch up with all of her friends, but she was starting to get tired. Her boyfriend and she were slowly walking the path from the restaurant back to their apartment.

"Naruto I'm tired… why don't we just hirashin back to the apartment." Sakura said as she wrapped her arms around his waist.

"And miss out on a walk on such a beautiful night? No thanks Sakura-chan."

"Oh come on Naruto… It's late." The pinkette whined.

Naruto looked down at her with a twinkle in his eye. "I think you'll be much happier that we walked home than hirashined home Sakura-chan."

"What are you talking about? Why would I be happy that we walk an extra 15 minutes when I would rather be in bed during those 15 minutes?"

"You'll just have to trust me Sakura-chan." The future hokage replied cryptically. Sakura rested her head on her boyfriend's shoulder as she allowed him to lead her towards their home. At least… that's where she thought he had been leading her."

"Naruto you baka! You led us the wrong way!" Naruto chuckled as he looked around. _Looks like my clones are all in place._ "Did I Sakura-chan?" He asked innocently, deciding to play with his girlfriend a little more.

"Yes baka! Do you remember walking over this wooden bridge that crosses over the stream like this?" Sakura couldn't help but notice how the water seemed to sparkle in the moonlight. It was really quite beautiful.

Naruto chuckled. "No I guess not."

"I think now's a good time guys." Sakura gasped as lanterns covering the bridge's railings that had somehow been hidden suddenly burst to life with a soft glow, and Sakura petals began slowly falling around them. Then there were poofs of smoke and 30 large softly glowing lanterns surrounded Naruto and Sakura on the bridge. _What's going on…_ Sakura suddenly felt very awake as she looked at Naruto with a look of confusion only to find him on one knee facing her. He was situated just perfectly so that while she stared at him, she could see the full moon in all of its beauty behind him.

"Sakura," Naruto started softly gaining her undivided attention. "This past year with you… it's been… it's been the best year of my life. I have loved you since we were both academy students and I am so glad that I somehow got you to fall in love me…" Naruto said with one of his famous foxy grins.

"I'm not exactly the best with words, so I won't try to say anything fancy, as I would just make a fool out of myself. Instead I'll say it simply. Sakura Haruno, I know you are the only girl that I will ever love. I also know that we're still young, but I don't care. I want to spend the rest of my life with you." Naruto reached into his jacket and pulled out a small black box.

"Sakura Haruno… will you marry me?" Naruto asked with a nervous look on his face.

Sakura couldn't have stopped the happy tears falling from her eyes if her life depended on it as she tackled her boyfriend and kissed him. "Yes of course I will Naruto!" She said happily before kissing him again.

Naruto felt extremely relieved and even was happier as he felt his fiancé continuously press her lips against his.

"Sakura-chan." Naruto said as he panted for air in between her kisses. "You might want to stop long enough for me to put your ring on your finger."

Sakura quickly got off of her future husband with an embarrassed smile. "Right…"

When Sakura got a good glance at the ring, a look of awe became plastered on her face as she snatched it from her fiance's hand.

"Naruto… this is beautiful!" Sakura exclaimed as she examined the emeralds that surrounded a very large diamond and surrounded the silver ban. As she examined the band she noticed an engraving on the inside. She softly smiled as she read the engraving.

_I'll always be your baka_

_

* * *

_

Man that was a fluffy chapter! The fighting begins next chapter! Please do review =)_  
_

For anyone that was wondering- the poof of smoke and the large lanterns were Naruto's clones in henge.

Yen to USD according to Google Currency Converter:

750,000 yen =$9,020.28

800 yen= $8.62


	6. A Battle to Lose

Whew, I'm back to writing again! Sorry for the delay, it's explained at the bottom of this page. We're already at the 6th chapter and I'm just now starting the war. There's a somewhat good chance that instead of the original 10 chapters I planned for this story it will go to 11-12, maybe even 13 depending on how long the fight scenes I have planned last.

As always, I appreciate the Reviews/Favorites/Alerts. Reviews keep a writer writing =)

Shout out to everyone who reviewed since last time: DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, TheOmegaMan, melapoy, Jozern, Darious Frost, holydemon00, hideki411, Blazing CobaltX, saveme57, ZeroTail29, Kyuubi loves NaruSaku, Toasty Warrior, liarcor, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith, Nutt Man 117, Senya Higurashi

* * *

DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles: Glad you enjoyed the fluff, and don't worry, it may be mean to bring them back, but I'll make it worth everyone's while =P

TheOmegaMan: Actually, I brought the Yondaime back in "A Jinchuriki's Husk" which this story is a sequel of. Basically he outsmarted the Death God. Sorta lame, but I needed to get him involved in the story so I stuck with it =P And yea, that would be nice to buy expensive jewelry at those prices! I think Shikamaru's eyes were opened during his "fight" with NaruSaku. I think he's just realizing there's room for improvement, and since he knows he's going to be heavily involved in planning Konoha's defense, he wants to be at his best. I want Zabuza to get redemption too!

melapoy: Both Lee and Shikamaru's eyes were opened during their "fight" so that showed them there's much room for improvement. As for Zetsu, he was killed during "A Jinchuriki's Husk," which this story is the sequel of =) And Naruto did have a mission...of sorts =P

Jozern: Hmm? Action? Violence? /e glances down. Check!

Darious Frost: =) To be honest, I had recently an episode of Chuck pertaining to marriage proposals (I won't say more) and drew the moon inspiration from there. Everything else was all from my head, so I'm glad you liked it! I also agree, the engraving is perfect for NaruSaku. As for Shikamaru, I got a lot of similar comments. I didn't intend to make him sound weepy, I intended to show that he realized there's room for improvement and to show that for once he's not being lazy and actually dedicating himself to making sure his skill is as good as it can be for when he's called upon to develop a strategy to save Konoha.

holydemon00: It's true! I was proud of myself when I came up with the nickname :D

hideki411: Thanks! Glad you enjoy it, and sorry for the delayed update!

Blazing CobaltX: Thanks and I'm glad you enjoyed it =)

saveme57: Lol, agreed. Let's go save some villages from homicidal super powered people who think they're gods... =P And I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter!

ZeroTail29: Thanks a lot =) Good call on Naruto and Madara paralleling Ichigo and Aizen. The main Naruto and Madara fight will not be until the third and final portion of this series though. The main villain to beat the crap out of is Kabuto in this part =)

Echo Uchiha: =)

Kyuubi loves NarSaku: =P

Toasty Warrior: Ya, I like the fluff. Probably why I write so much of it =P Thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoyed the chapter!

liarcor: Actually Minato got away from the Death God during "A Jinchuriki's Husk" which this story is a sequel to. The way I look at the lake thing: If the edo-tensei can restore a revived shinobi from complete incineration, it should be able to continually heal the revived body as it trudges through the cold pressurized depths of the bottom of a lake. And thank you for the kind words on the story, I'm glad you enjoy =)

Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: Hehe =) Naruto's got skills in the "proposal" department, that's for sure =P I just liked Zabuza, and wanted to write him, that's why he specifically is Kabuto's messenger boy. But he also played a prominent role in Naruto's development, so it's nice to have him around. /e glances down. Yep, I see a Haku! As for your last question, maybeeee! Sorry for the delayed update, but I'm back to updating regularly again =) Glad you enjoyed the last chapter and hope you enjoy this one!

Nutt Man 117: Thanks a lot! I'm glad you enjoyed it =) Sorry for the delay on this chapter, hopefully it was at least kinda worth the wait!

Senya Higurashi: Ah thank you so much! =) Glad you're enjoying it!

* * *

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Sakura would've been one of Naruto's guards when he goes off to train. I mean seriously, you don't want Naruto running off and entering the war? Put Sakura with him. Problem solved.

Now, I've made you wait long enough. Let's start the war shall we? Please do enjoy, "A Jinchuriki's Strength"- Chapter 6: A Battle to Lose

* * *

Naruto calmly stared at the approaching army of undead shinobi. There was no fear in the jinchuriki's body, only determination. His sage cloak gently flapped as a breeze blew across the field.

He glanced at his fiancé from the corner of his eye. She had insisted on joining him here on the battlefield, and judging by the look on her face, it was a good thing she did. Sakura's face was set in a determined expression.

_Sakura-chan is calm, how is everyone else?_ Naruto glanced around at the rest of the small task force gathered with him.

"Naruto, remember what Shikamaru said, we're not ending the war here." Sakura's eerily calm voice called out, interrupting the jinchuriki's thoughts.

_FLASHBACK_

_Naruto, Sakura and Kakashi were standing in the Hokage's office. "I've called you all here because we have received word that Kabuto's army has started marching towards Konoha. It looks like war is finally coming." Tsunade barked out._

"_How many of them are there Hokage-sama?" Kakashi asked._

"_More than we're ready to deal with considering we still don't know how to stop the edo-tensei." Shikamaru answered._

_Tsunade nodded her head at the lazy genius, and motioned for him to continue._

"_So far the only way we know to stop the edo-tensei is for Naruto to transfer nature chakra into the revived ninja which they are not trained to control, this causes them to transform into a toad statue; a transformation that not even the edo-tensei can undo."_

_Naruto grinned proudly at Sakura. They were the only two that were yet to find a way to beat the edo-tensei._

"_But that's not good enough." Shikamaru continued causing Naruto's grin to disappear. "Naruto is the only one who can channel nature chakra, so we would have to depend on him to force the toad statue transformation on each undead shinobi, this would take an insane amount of chakra. The amount of chakra it would require is far beyond even Naruto's chakra levels if he was using the full power of the Kyubi."_

"_If it's the only way we can stop the armies then don't worry about it, I'll turn each of those bastards into a toad statue!" Naruto boasted. _

"_Even for you it's impossible." Shikamaru replied, quickly putting an end to Naruto's boasting. "Even if you somehow had the chakra that would be required to perform such a feat, your control is far too terrible for you to actually turn all of them into statues."_

"_But…"_

"_But nothing baka!" Sakura shot her fiancé an angry glare, causing the mighty jinchuriki to shake a little bit in fear. "I told you that you weren't ever going to do that again."_

_For once in his life, Naruto smartly remained silent. _

"_Actually Sakura, Naruto's going to be using the toad statue transformation." Shikamaru said, surprising everyone in the room._

"_We don't have a good way to beat the edo-tensei yet, but Naruto can transform two of Kabuto's more powerful revived ninja into statues to take them out of the fight."_

"_But…" Sakura started._

"_Itachi had amazing chakra control. He was one of, if not the worst possible target for someone like Naruto to target. From what I've analyzed of Naruto's abilities, he should be able to force the transformation on two revived shinobi, as long as they don't have chakra control nearly as good as Itachi's. After he does that, we'll bring him back to you." Shikamaru stated calmly, ignoring the glare from the pink-haired kunoichi._

"_What do you mean bring him back to me? I'm going to be by his side the entire time!" Sakura growled. _

"_Your abilities on the battlefield are exceptional, and you and Naruto's teamwork make you a nearly unstoppable force. But we're not going to win this battle, so it would be much better for you to stay in the village where you can heal the wounded." The lazy genius explained._

"_Ne, Shikamaru, that's a little negative don't you think?" Chouji asked with an eyebrow raised._

"_No Chouji, we are not going to win our first battle with Kabuto's army…"_

"_Now wait a second Shikamaru…" Kiba growled._

"_Everyone quiet down and listen to Shikamaru's plan." Tsunade snapped. Shikamaru had already consulted with her, and as always she was impressed with the boy._

"_We're not going to wait for Kabuto to arrive at Konoha's gate. We're going to engage him away from the village first. Our first battle will be solely for information gathering on his army, it's just an added bonus that Naruto will be able to take out two of Kabuto's most powerful shinobi."_

_A look of understanding dawned on the faces of the rest of the Konoha ninja._

"_Now then, a small strike force led by Naruto will engage Kabuto's army. Sai and Neji will fly high into the air so you're out of Kabuto's sight. You will fly directly over Kabuto and Neji will use his byukugan to watch Kabuto's every move. Hinata will also be in the air on one of your ink birds, and she will be using her byukugan to monitor the revived shinobi."_

_Shikamaru paused for a moment and waited for Sai, Neji and Hinata to nod their understanding._

"_Good, we will fight until I give the signal to start the retreat. Naruto, as soon as you see my signal you need to force the toad statue transformation on whichever two shinobi you decide are the biggest threat."_

_Naruto simply nodded in response._

"_As soon as Naruto turns a second shinobi into stone, we will enact a full-scale retreat, and retreat behind a new barrier we set up when we heard about Kabuto's army. That barrier won't stop them for long, but it will buy us a couple of days to recover and prepare for the real battle. We will then run back to Konoha as quickly as we can so Sakura and her medic team can heal the wounded."_

"_I'm not staying in Konoha." Sakura ground out with her fists clenched tightly._

"_Sakura, I've already explained…"_

"_I'm. Not. Staying. In. Konoha." Sakura hissed again, shooting Shikamaru a daring look. The lazy genius knew that if he challenged Sakura any more on this issue he may be in the hospital soon._

"_What do you think Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru asked, expertly deflecting Sakura's potential wrath away from himself. The pink-haired kunoichi turned to face her master, a scary look still present on her face. For the first time ever, Tsunade was actually slightly intimidated by Sakura._

"_I think if she wants to stay be Naruto's side, there's not much we can do about it." The Godaime replied, appeasing her angry student._

_Sakura's wrathful glare instantly transformed into a happy grin, causing the rest of the nin gathered in the Hokage's office to sweat drop at the girl's quick mood swing._

"_So how is having Neji and Hinata watch the enemy with their byukugan going to help us defeat the edo-tensei?" Chouji asked._

"_That's actually where Ino is going to come in." Shikamaru said as he turned his attention the purple-clad platinum blonde. "You have a jutsu to display people's memories correct?"_

"_I do… But I haven't mastered it yet; I can only hold the jutsu for 15 minutes before I exhaust all of my chakra._

"_That will be plenty. In that time I should be able to spot some weakness in the edo-tensei that we can use to defeat it." Shikamaru replied confidently._

_FLASH IN_

The next day Gaara arrived under the cover of night with reinforcements from the Sand. He immediately wanted to join the task force that would first engage Kabuto's army, but Shikamaru insisted on him staying out of the fight. It would be better to save Gaara and the rest of the sand shinobi to catch Kabuto off guard during the battle they actually planned to win.

A few days after that, an attractive brunette named Mei, who was apparently the Godaime Mizukage, arrived with reinforcements from the Hidden Mist. Like Gaara, Shikamaru insisted she and her forces stay out of the initial fight as well.

Naruto had spent that week working on his toad statue transformation, and had seen some improvement in the rate at which he was able to transfer nature chakra into another object, but his poor chakra control still prevented him from forcing the transformation effectively.

Naruto looked over his strike force. Kakashi had his little orange book out, but the jinchuriki knew that his sensei wasn't actually reading the book. It was clear from the look in Kakashi's eye that his attention was solely on the approaching army.

Lee and Gai were currently stretching with an excited grin on their faces. But neither of them spoke a single word; they knew the severity of the situation they were in. Chouji and Kiba both looked slightly nervous, but they had a determined expression on their faces.

Yamato's face was unreadable as he stared at the approaching army. Tenten was looking apprehensive, but there was a slight look of excitement on her face if one looked close enough.

Naruto couldn't read the emotions of any of the 30 Anbu members that Tsunade sent along, but Naruto could tell by the way they held their bodies that even they were a little of nervous.

And then there was he and Sakura, both calmly watching the approaching army. Not once ounce of fear in their bodies.

"Naruto?"

"What is it Sakura-chan?"

The undead army was close now. The battle would start soon.

"I love you."

"I love you too Sakura." Naruto cast a soft smile at his fiancé, but that smile was quickly gone when he turned back to the undead army.

"Ok everyone! Let's do this, and don't any of you dare die on me!" Naruto yelled. The jinchuriki formed a rasengan in each hand, and with a feral roar leapt towards the undead army.

* * *

"What have you got to report?" Madara Uchiha asked the short Akatsuki member who slinked out of the shadows.

"I believe Kabuto plans on betraying you after the war Madara-sama." The short man replied.

"I'm not surprised. Well then, I think a visit to the Hokage is in order soon."

"Shall I continue spying on Kabuto?"

"Please do." Madara replied, before disappearing in a swirling vortex.

* * *

Sakura couldn't help but have a slight feeling of awe as she watched her fiancé bat away powerful undead ninja. Naruto's fighting style was so uncontrolled and wild, yet he managed to move gracefully, moving from revived ninja to revived ninja striking them and knocking them backwards.

Unfortunately, every person Naruto took out came right back completely healed thanks to the edo-tensei. Sakura was relieved that she hadn't spotted anyone that the Konoha shinobi might now. She quickly cast a genjutsu on an undead shinobi wearing a hidden mist headband that was creeping up behind Naruto.

The shinobi launched a water dragon at what he thought was Naruto, but in actuality was another undead shinobi about three feet to Naruto's right. The jinchuriki turned around and quickly struck the man.

Sakura felt the familiar warmth spread through her body as Naruto disappeared in a flash and blocked the sword of a shinobi both he and Sakura were very familiar with.

"Nice to see you again Zabuza." The future hokage greeted in a calm voice.

"Kid." Zabuza relied. A chill filled the air and suddenly senbon needles made out of nothing but ice hurtled towards the husband and wife to be. Sakura quickly slammed her fist into the ground to raise an earth wall which blocked the needles from striking either her or Naruto.

"So you're back too, eh Haku?" Naruto's voice was calm, but Sakura could detect the slight pang of regret in it. She had never fought Haku, but she knew the impact the boy had on Naruto's life.

"I recognize this girl from the last time we met. Is she one of the precious things you fight to protect Naruto?" Haku asked as he revealed himself to the duo.

"That's right. Sakura meet Haku, Haku this is Sakura."

"It's a pleasure to actually meet you Sakura-san, I'm sorry we couldn't have met on better terms." Haku said politely. "Unfortunately Zabuza-sama and I do not have control over our bodies, so we're going to come at both of you with everything we've got."

Naruto chuckled. "So a rematch from Team 7's first fight… It seems appropriate."

"I agree Naruto." Kakashi said as he suddenly appeared by Naruto and Sakura's side. "A very appropriate way to start off the war."

"It looks like you're doing well brat." Zabuza called out as he pushed his blade against Naruto's kunai. "You're the reason Haku and I lost last time, so I'm not surprised to see that you're some powerful big shot now."

"I have you two to thank for that. Our fight is what set me on my path, and I swore on your graves that I would follow it." Naruto replied as he pushed Zabuza's blade away and quickly struck the undead swordsmen in the chest with a kick forcing him backwards.

Haku grabbed his head in pain. "Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi… I'm losing what little control I had. Please stop us once again."

Zabuza stood from Naruto's kick. "Please Kakashi… use whatever means to stop me. I'm already dead. I died as a human and I want to stay that way!"

Kakashi lifted his headband to reveal his mangekyo sharingan. "Yea… I know."

"Sakura, Kakashi-sensei, I'm going to force the transformation on these two." Naruto called out in a determined voice. "I will not allow Kabuto to desecrate their memory by controlling them like this."

"They are powerful Naruto, but are they the most powerful out here? Be careful about letting your emotions cloud your judgement." Kakashi warned.

"I don't care… if someone else more powerful than Haku and Zabuza show up I'll force the transformation on them as well!" Naruto growled.

"Fine fine. But remember, you're not supposed to use that transformation until Shikamaru gives the signal."

"Don't worry about it sensei. Haku, Zabuza!" Naruto turned his now toad-like eyes to the two ninja who had such a profound impact on his life. "I'm going to save you, that's a promise!"

"Thank you Naruto…" Haku whispered quietly. "Makyo Hyosho!" The femine looking nin yelled.

21 ice mirrors surrounded the remaining members of the original Team 7, and Haku quickly disappeared into one.

_So this is what Sasuke and Naruto faced off against all those years ago…_ Sakura thought as she attempted to figure out which of the reflections was the real Haku.

A small smile graced Naruto's lips as he easily tracked Haku using his sage mode. "It's just like old times!"

"Sakura, I think Naruto will be fine against Haku. If you wouldn't mind assisting me against Zabuza please?" Kakashi called out calmly.

The pink-haired kunoichi watched as Naruto grinned like an idiot at Haku.

"I'll be fine Sakura-chan, help Kakashi-sensei out."

"Alright Haku, now I'm going to show you how strong my precious people have made me!" Naruto yelled before shunshining to the mirror where his undead friend was. The jinchuriki slammed a rasengan into the mirror, smashing it into pieces.

"Your attack was able to break one of my mirrors…" Haku said in a disbelieving tone.

Naruto suddenly appeared in front of the mirror he was currently in and smashed it to pieces with another rasengan.

"Only 19 more mirrors to go!"

"Man that brat of yours sure is something." Zabuza declared with a grin on his face. He raised his executioner's blade and charged Kakashi.

The copy nin dodged Zabuza's first swipe then used the shunshin to disappear in a puff of smoke. Sakura suddenly appeared through the smoke and caught Zabuza off guard with a powerful punch. The punch would've been enough to kill him had he not already been dead. His body skidded across the ground, far away from the mirrors.

Zabuza quickly got up and charged the pink-haired girl. Before he could reach Sakura, he was suddenly pulled down into the ground by Kakashi.

With Zabuza temporarily incapacitated, Sakura glanced at Naruto. The blonde was flickering from mirror to mirror smashing them with a rasengan, there weren't too many mirrors left. It looked like Naruto was attacking too quickly to even give Haku a chance to throw his ice senbons.

"Sakura, we haven't stopped him yet." Kakashi cautioned, returning the kunoichi's gaze to Zabuza, who was now pulling himself out of the ground.

"Any ideas on how to permanently disable him sensei?" Sakura asked.

"Not really." Kakashi replied with a one-eyed smile. "I guess we just have to keep fighting him until Naruto can force the toad statue transformation on him."

Sakura responded by simply nodding her head.

"So… your other student has became quite powerful as well Kakashi. Impressive, tell me, how's the third one? The kid who's speed was almost enough to match Haku's…"

Kakashi looked sideways at Sakura, he had never had a chance to talk to her about Sasuke's death after she killed her former crush, he wasn't entirely sure how she would handle this.

"He fell to darkness and betrayed us." Sakura answered matter-of-factly. There was a slight twinge of regret and sadness in her voice, but it was barely noticeable. "He almost killed Naruto, so I killed him. But he thanked me as he was dying, so I guess in death I saved him."

"That's too bad. With how powerful you and that brat are, you three would've been the most powerful team to exist had he stuck around." Zabuza replied.

"We're still pretty powerful." Kakashi answered, flashing Sakura a now two-eyed smile.

"Yea…" Sakura whispered quietly with a small smile on her face. "We are!" Pink chakra chains whipped out of Sakura's body and wrapped tightly around Zabuza, effectively restraining the undead demon of the mist.

Against his will, Zabuza began struggling against the chains, but they bound him too tightly. He a small chuckle escaped his lips.

"Heh, I bet Kabuto is pissed right about now. He went to all the trouble of reviving me and now he can't even use me. Thanks girl."

"You're welcome." Sakura ground out as she focused on maintaining the tightness of the chains.

* * *

Lee ducked under a punch from a man with spiky black hair, had a prominent line down both sides of his face and was wearing a Iwa forehead protector tied around his completely exposed right arm. If the jumpsuit-wearing jonin didn't know any better, he would think that this ninja seems to be holding back.

Lee launched a quick kick to the man's chest, sending him skidding backwards. Before he could focus on the strange spiky-haired man any further, he was forced to leap backwards as a golden rope crashed down where had been standing an inch before.

"You two… go find someone else to bother." The spiky-haired man addressed the two long-haired men that were wearing what looked to be demon horn headdresses.

"We thought we'd have a little fun with this one Gari." The taller of the two replied. "Right brother?"

The man's brother gave Lee an evil grin. "Right."

The spiky-haired man whose name was apparently Gari sighed. "Be careful with these two child, they are far more powerful than you know, and unlike me, they won't be satisfied with simply trading blows."

Lee took in his former opponent's words as he stared at the two men who looked eerily like demons.

"I don't know who you are, BUT WITH MY POWERFUL YOUTH I WILL DEFEAT YOU!" Lee yelled. The two brothers grinned and released an evil aura.

* * *

Naruto smiled as he flickered from mirror to mirror smashing them to pieces. He was actually having fun and he was happy to have a chance to show Haku how powerful he had grown for his precious people. Haku shot out of the last remaining mirror just before Naruto smashed it like he had all the rest.

The jinchuriki grinned at the ice-wielder. "If only I had been this powerful all those years ago. Sasuke and I wouldn't have had to get cut up by so many of your ice senbons!"

Haku chuckled the ever carefree blonde. "I'm happy to see how powerful you've grown Naruto-kun. My body is going to force me to start fighting you again soon, even though I know it's pointless with how powerful you've become."

Just as Haku finished, he rushed toward Naruto. The jinchuriki easily dodged his friend's attack and quickly moved behind him, locking him in a full-nelson lock.

"WE ARE!" Sakura's yell drew Naruto's attention and he looked over to see her using her chakra chains to restrain Zabuza.

"I'm going to save you from Kabuto now Haku. After I save you, I'm going to go save Zabuza. Thank you, for putting me on the right path." Naruto said in a now completely serious and grateful tone.

"Thank you… Naruto-kun."

Naruto closed his eyes and began focusing on his nature chakra. Just as he prepared to channel it, a very familiar aura filled the air. The Kyubi seemed to recognize the aura and Naruto could feel the demon's rage.

The young sage focused on the aura and followed it to see Lee standing in the distance across from two burly looking men, with demon horn headdresses. One was carrying a golden rope and a fan, while the other was holding a gourd and a large sword.

_That chakra… It's the Kyubi's chakra… But how?_

"_**KILL THOSE TWO NARUTO!" The Kyubi roared in rage.**_

"_Who are those guys ya damn fox?" _Naruto asked the raging demon inside of him.

"_**Those are the Gold and Silver Brothers from Kumo. They tried to capture me once, and when I ate them they survived in my belly for two weeks by eating the chakra meat in my stomach! Those bugs need to pay! If you're not going to kill them, THEN LET ME OUT SO I CAN!"**_

"_So is that how they have your chakra? Because they ate part of you?"_

"_**DAMNIT NARUTO YES! NOW RELEASE ME SO I CAN KILL THEM!"**_

"_Shut up Fox..." _The jinchuriki thought as he closed the connection between himself and the demon as best as he could. He sighed.

"Sorry Haku… but I can't save you yet." Naruto threw Haku with his sage enhanced strength, sending the former hunter nin flying.

"Sakura-chan, Kakashi-sensei… change of plans."

"I figured as much." Kakashi replied.

Sakura flashed him a look filled with worry. She knew Naruto was strong, but the two shinobi he was currently preparing to fight were both exuding the Kyubi's chakra.

"Hang on Naruto, you're not going after those two alone. Right Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hmm, I guess it can't be helped." Kakashi replied cryptically as he rummaged in his hip pouch before pulling out a small scroll.

"We were going to save this for the main battle, but I suppose it can't hurt to see if these scrolls work now. Keep him restrained Sakura." The pinkette merely grunted an affirmative. Kakashi rushed forward and unfurled the scroll to reveal a seal, and placed it directly on Zabuza's face.

"I hope this works…" The copy nin muttered as he flashed through a series of handsigns. "Fuin suru."

A bright light burst forth from the scroll and sucked Zabuza into it.

"Well Shikamaru will be happy to find that this works." Kakashi panted, activating the sealing scroll took up about the three quarters of the amount of chakra he used for his chidori.

Sakura released her chakra chains and smiled at Naruto. "Ok, we're ready Naruto. Let's go!"

"Alright! Time to turn those bastards into statues!"

Sakura and Kakashi followed Naruto as he ran towards the two demonic looking men.

* * *

"Hmmm… so Konoha has developed a scroll to seal my revived shinobi." Kabuto said to no one in particular. "What a waste of chakra. You would think they would've learned from the Sandaime's sacrifice that only the death god can effectively seal souls revived by the edo-tensei."

Kabuto summoned a coffin out of the ground. The door slowly creaked open and Kabuto sneered at its occupant.

"Welcome back Zabuza-san."

Zabuza glared at Kabuto, his gaze held nothing but hatred for the scaled man.

"I don't think you're done yet."

Zabuza's body began to move back towards the battle against his will. "Damnit Kabuto… I will make you pay for using me like this, eventually I'll be going back to hell and eventually you'll join me!" The "demon" threatened as his body took off in a full sprint towards the battlefield.

_Hmm… It would appear that Naruto-kun is going after the demon brothers. If my intelligence is correct, he's going to turn them into statues just like he did to Itachi… I can't allow that. I especially can't let him get ahold of those treasures; with his chakra levels he could wield them against my army…_

The scaled man smirked as he forced one of his "puppets" to intercept Team 7.

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office with Shikaku Nara and the other two Kages that had arrived in Konoha. Shikamaru had been attempting to explain their battle plan to the Kages, but Gaara stared out the window with an annoyed look on his face.

"Gaara, I know you want to be out there fighting on the front lines, but you're the Kazekage now. You need to understand the plan that Shikaku's son came up with." Tsunade called out, breaking the young man from his thoughts.

The former jinchuriki turned back towards the meeting. "I know." He replied in his usual monotone voice. "I just don't like that we sent such a small force to face off against Kabuto's army."

"They're not fighting to win Kazekage-sama, they're fighting to distract. They'll be fine. Besides, Shikamaru should be sending the signal soon for the retreat." Shikaku pointed out.

"I guess…"

"The Hokage and Nara-san are correct Kazekage-sama. Their plan is good, they'll be back soon. Now we need to focus on how we're going to win the battle that we actually plan on winning." Mei spoke up.

Gaara nodded his head and gave the elder Nara his full attention.

"Ok… as I was saying…" Shikaku was interrupted by a cloaked man with an orange mask swirling into existence.

"Madara!" Tsunade gasped in surprise as she dropped into a fighting stance. Sand poured from Gaara's gourd as he eyed the ancient Uchiha with a deadly glare. Mei however, remained completely calm.

"Interesting strategy, coming here Madara. Teleporting directly into a room where three Kages are meeting… Each one planning on killing you." The Mizukage said.

Madara chuckled at the beautiful leader. "None of you are on my level, I could kill you all if I so desired. But I'm not going to do that just yet, I still have a use for you all."

"A use for us? And what makes you think we're going to do your bidding?" Gaara growled. Seeing Madara merely served to remind him of what the masked man in front of him almost did to his first friend.

"Because if you don't, you will all be wiped out by Kabuto's army."

"Isn't that what you want?" Tsunade asked with a confused look on her face. The intel Konoha had gotten on Kabuto and Madara's partnership was completely accurate, some of Konoha's best shinobi themselves saw it happen…

"If that's what I wanted I would be killing you right now, wouldn't I?" Madara sneered.

"So Kabuto has betrayed you." Shikaku spoke up, drawing the ancient Uchiha's attention away from his Hokage to him.

"Ah the Naras, always very perceptive. Yes, Kabuto plans on betraying me, so I'm going to have him killed."

"And what's to stop us from simply capturing Kabuto instead of killing him?" Tsunade asked.

Madara smirked at the busty Hokage. "Oh believe me, you won't allow him to live. You will want to kill him."

"And why's that Madara?"

"You'll just have to wait and see Hokage-sama. But enough on that, I came here to tell you how to beat Kabuto and his army…

* * *

Naruto could now see the demon brothers. He was relieved to see that some anbu and Gai had joined Lee and were helping him fight them off.

"Alright, Sakura-chan I'm going to do this quick. If they're anything like me, they have so much chakra that their control is pretty bad. That means they should be susceptible to genjutsu. Cast one on me so they can't see me, that way I can quickly sneak up behi…"

Naruto grabbed Sakura and leapt backwards evading the large blade of a puppet in a white cloak. It had red "hair" that was pulled back into two buns.

"What in the…"

"Chiyo-sama…" Sakura whispered.

Naruto followed his fiancé's gaze to see the old woman who gave her life to revive Gaara. The puppet that had attacked leapt backwards to her side, joining the other 9 puppets, all wearing the same white cloak.

"Damnit… I don't have time for this."

"Be careful Naruto." Sakura said softly, her eyes trained on the old woman in front of her.

"Sakura-chan?"

"Kakashi-sensei and I will deal with Chiyo-sama. You need to go take care of those two that have the Kyubi's chakra. Be careful."

"You too Sakura-chan. Take care of her for me Kakashi-sensei!"

"Of course. Good luck Naruto." The jinchuriki ran towards the two demonic looking men. The puppet from before moved to attack him, but Sakura quickly formed hand signs.

"Suiton: Teppodama!" Her water bullet hit the puppet sending it off its attack course freeing Naruto to escape to take care of his targets.

"Sakura, you've grown stronger since we last saw each other." Chiyo complimented as she stared at the confident kunoichi. "And I can see that you no longer doubt yourself, I'm glad."

"Thank you Chiyo-sama."

"Ah Chiyo-sama, I don't suppose there's any way we can convince you to put those puppets away is there? They're going to make things considerably more difficult." Kakashi called out.

Chiyo chuckled at the silver-haired jonin. It was funny, she absolutely despised his father, yet she had nothing but respect for him.

"Unfortunately Kakashi I don't have control over my body, I'm afraid you will have to deal with my Ten Puppet Collection of Chikamatsu until you find a way to defeat me."

Kakashi reactivated his mangekyo sharingan. "I figured as much."

* * *

Lee dodged a powerful gust of wind from the brother who was wielding the rope. The man struck an anbu with his golden rope, and his brother quickly slashed the man with his sword. Surprisingly, the anbu didn't have a single wound on him.

"Are you alright Anbu-san?" Lee asked as the Anbu looked around, obviously surprised to be alive still.

"Hai!" The Anbu quickly replied. The demonic looking brothers smirked, as the one with the sword suddenly sucked the Anbu into the gourd he was carrying.

"What the hell?" One of the anbu yelled out in surprise.

"Words are potent weapons in battle… don't you think Kinkaku?" The smaller brother asked.

Kinkaku grinned. "They sure are Ginkaku."

* * *

Alright! The war has finally started. Stay tuned next week!

Sorry for the delay in updates, but I recently got a new job and moved from Ohio to Washington DC for it, then flew down to Florida for a bunch of meetings during my second week. I've basically been running around like a crazy person this past month, and really haven't had much of this stuff called "free time." But my job is starting to calm down a little now, and I actually have free time again. So that means I can get back to updating regularly. Yay!


	7. The Enemy of My Enemy

Finally got this dang chapter finished! I'll save my ramblings for the bottom of this story so you can get right to this chapter quicker! On a side note- yay for this story reaching 100 reviews already! I did a joyful little dance, _A Jinchiriki's Husk_ didn't get the 100th review until after I had completed it! So point _A Jinchuriki's Strength_!

As always, thanks for the reviews/favorites/follows =)

Shout out to everyone who reviewed since last time: Echo Uchiha, Toasty Warrior, Otaku Overlord, pharix, Jozern, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith, Nut Man 117, saveme57, tricksie, ZeroTail29, Blazing CobaltX, bankai777, butterflyV, wingedmercury, Starfire99, Darious Frost, TheOmegaMan, One for Words, Reviewer

* * *

**Echo Uchiha: **=)

**Toasty Warrior:** Considering what I have planned for later chapters, this war is going to be scorching =P

**Otaku Overlod:**I'm still debating on whether to show Asuma or not. I've got all of the battles planned/mapped out for this story, but I'm still debating on whether or not to include certain individuals in certain battles. It really depends at this point what I decide to do with Shikamaru, because I would want it to be ShikaInaCho vs. Asuma, not InaCho vs. Asuma.

**pharix:** lol =P

**Jozern:** Thanks! And not exactly on the killer puppet mode, Kabuto just tightened his control some. Kinda the same thing that happened to Itachi in the beginning of this story. He could fight Kabuto's control briefly, but eventually had to give in. I actually ran into a challenge when I started trying to write the Silver and Gold Brothers. Not my favorite fight scene I've ever written. I just wanted to put them up against Naruto so bad!

**Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: **This chapter took me another month to pump out =( Sorry for making you wait so long, I really hate going so long between updates my stories! And Kabuto has something on Madara (I don't remember what manga chapter it was, but he summoned a casket with the edo-tensei that stopped Madara from attacking him), so Madara can't directly take Kabuto out. Makes sense he would go to Konoha to have them do his dirty work for him! And a big theme of this story in general is the growth of Naruto and Sakura, and I gave Naruto Haku to show his growth, I figured Sakura could use some love to. And voila! You have Chiyo!

**Nut Man 117:** I'm glad you're enjoying the fights! I'm not overly thrilled with how the Kinkaku and Ginkaku fight turned out, because I had a really difficult time in writing them. I hope the fight doesn't disappoint (...that much) =P

**saveme57: **Hopefully the Kinkaku/Ginkaku fight is up to par. I didn't change the weaknesses of the edo-tensei. I used one of the newer manga chapters AND Narutopedia (to make sure I didn't miss anything). Glad you enjoyed the chapter =)

**tricksie: **Thanks =) Glad you enjoyed the chapter! And so far so good in DC =) The cherry blossom festival was awesome (the metro ride in to DC however, was not) =P

**ZeroTail29: **Thanks! I'm glad you enjoyed it, hopefully you'll enjoy this one too =)

**Blazing CobaltX: **Hehe, unfortunately it took me nearly another month to get out this update too. My apologies! To my knowledge Chiyo still hasn't been sealed in the manga, so there's always the slight possibility that Sakura and Chiyo will square off. Although with the most recent chapter, I highly doubt it..

**bankai777: **Madra's spy is one of the new Akatsuki members. He's the only new Akatsuki member I plan on showing in this story (maybe I'll have them make a cameo in the last chapter), but all the new Akatsuki members are OCs. We'll see more of them in _A Jinchuriki's Radiance_, the third and final part of my Jinchuriki series =)

**butterflyV:** Glad you liked the start =) Hopefully the conclusion to this battle is up to par! I'm not sure if I'll be directly following the kages in any of their fights for this story (they'll definitely be involved, but they might just get a mention). But I can say that regardless, Shikamaru is going to have a clever plan of getting them involved =)

**wingedmercury: **Thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far! I lol'd at your Zombie compliment comment for chapter 2 =P

**Starfire99: **I wanted to use the Silver and Gold brothers for a Kyubi v. Kyubi showdown of sorts, and I think that's reflected in the fight!

**Darious Frost: **Death? Oh ya, a lot of it =/ Character death? Still undecided, I hate killing off characters. I'm still debating it though, so we shall see!

**TheOmegaMan: **I've hated Kabuto since he first introduced himself to the gang during the chunin exams, so I know how you feel! =) Glad you like the pacing!

**One for Words: **Lol, I know tis is a word, I play a lot of scrabble =P And thanks for the compliment! That's quite high praise and I'm honored to receive it =)

**Reviewer: **HOORAY FOR YOU FOR GIVING MY 100TH REVIEW! [insert confetti and streamers here] Glad you enjoy my stories, and I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter =) Thanks for the **100th** review =)

* * *

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Sakura will ****DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE MOST RECENT MANGA CHAPTER, SPOILER TIME**** kick the living crap out of Neji without so much as breaking a sweat. I know the guy is under someone's control, but still. Taking out medics? Not cool man, not cool. ****SPOILER DONE!****

Anyways... Let's get onto the chapter shall we? Please do enjoy, _A Jinchuriki's Strength_- Chapter 7: The Enemy of My Enemy

* * *

"How are our forces holding up?" Shikamaru asked the Hyuga clansman who was currently serving as his eyes on the battlefield.

"So far our losses have been fairly minimal. There are two demonic looking men with what appear to be powerful artifacts that are capable of sucking a person inside it when used in conjunction with each other, but Naruto-san has engaged them."

"Interesting… And how is everyone doing chakra wise?"

The Hyuga's eyes swept across the battlefield as he assessed the chakra levels of Konoha's warriors.

"Most of our forces have 45-60% of their total chakra remaining." He finally answered.

"And what about Naruto's chakra levels?"

"Naruto-san appears to be conserving his chakra; I would say he still has about 75-80% of his total chakra left."

_Good. I was afraid Naruto might charge in and start throwing all of his most powerful techniques around in an effort to end this war before it even gets started…_

He was pleased to say in the least that his plan had yet to meet any hiccups. Their forces had been fighting for 10 minutes now. Seeing as how Ino's jutsu could only last for 15 minutes, they wouldn't need to fight much longer.

"Very good." Shikamaru turned his attention to a young genin who was holding a large flare gun. "You're going to launch that flare in exactly five minutes."

"Hai Shikamaru-sama." The young genin nervously replied. _Shikamaru-sama? Tch, that just sounds weird..._ The lazy genius walked up to the group of ANBU that were standing over a series of seals.

"I'm going to have our forces retreat in five minutes. Make sure you're all ready to activate the barrier the second the last Konoha nin gets here. The ANBU simply nodded their heads in response.

_Alright everyone… Just five more minutes._

* * *

Naruto leapt backwards as one of the demonic looking men tried to strike him with the strange golden rope. He quickly tossed a three-pronged kunai into the ground and flashed away just before the other man could strike him with the strange large sword he was wielding.

_These two just won't give me a break…_ The annoyed jinchuriki thought as he was forced to again leap out of the path of the golden rope. As soon as he had entered the battle the two brothers seemed hellbent on defeating him.

_FLASHBACK_

_Naruto ran towards the gold and silver brothers at full speed, he didn't even flinch when he saw one of Chiyo's puppets move in his direction from the corner of his eye. He knew Sakura would protect him. As he neared the brothers they turned to him with wicked grins on their faces._

"_Doesn't that feel like the Kyubi brother?" The shorter of the two asked the other. His taller brother grinned back at him._

"_It sure does Ginkaku. It's been a while since we've played with that old fur ball. Its chakra meat was to die for!"_

_Naruto had to calm himself as the Kyubi raged from within him at the man's words._

"_Hey boy, why don't you let the Kyubi out? We wouldn't mind eating some more of that chakra meat." Ginkaku sneered._

"_**HOW DARE THEY MOCK ME!" **__The Kyubi roared in rage as it threw itself against its cage in fury. As the Kybui attempted to break out of its cage, Naruto couldn't help but be thankful that his father was a seal master._

"_You two have power that doesn't belong to you. Make this easy on yourselves and just give up." Naruto responded as calmly as he could while focusing on controlling his emotions. He knew that in the Kyubi's current state, if he let just a hint of anger seep into his mind the Kyubi could use it to take over. He needed to remain calm._

"_You're pretty confident for one so young!" Ginkaku yelled as he lunged towards the jinchuriki with a swipe of his sword._

_FLASH IN_

The two brothers hadn't relented ever since he had entered the fight. They had flat out ignored Lee, Gai and the ANBU members that had come to Lee's aid. Naruto ducked under Ginkaku's sword and struck him in the chest with his sage-enhanced strength causing the demonic looking man to hurtle backwards.

Gai flickered into his flight path, and with a powerful kick sent the undead man into the ground. Naruto was suddenly blasted backwards from a powerful wind, but used his hirashin to flash to the kunai that he had thrown earlier before the blast could do any damage to him.

One of the Anbu members shot a fireball at Kinkaku, which the former kumo nin didn't even try to avoid.

"While I may not be happy about being revived by this technique, it is pretty useful in a fight." Kinkaku said as the smoke cleared to reveal his body healing itself.

_Damnit…_ Naruto tightly balled his fists in frustration. _These guys are dangerous, I need to take them out quick. But I have to focus on remaining in complete control of my emotions… I can't afford to let the Kyubi influence me in any way… _

"Hey you ANBU members." Naruto called out, gaining the attention of the masked nins. "Go help Gai and Lee keep Ginkaku distracted. I'll handle Kinkaku."

The ANBU members simply nodded and ran to Gai and Lee's side who were patiently watching as Ginkaku walked out of the crater his body had made from Gai's kick.

"Smart move boy… trying to split us up like that. But it won't work, that's not how we fight." Kinkaku said with a grin as Ginkaku barreled past the Gai, Lee and the ANBU members to stand by his side.

* * *

Sakura leapt backwards as one the white puppets arms extended to trap her in a makeshift cage. As she landed she stomped the ground creating a fissure where the puppet had been standing. Pushing chakra into her legs Sakura leapt forward as the puppet lost its balance destroyed it with a powerful chakra-enhanced punch to its "chest."

She looked over towards Chiyo just in time to see Kakashi appear out of the ground with a chidori crackling around his hand. Before he could use the chidori against the undead granny, a demonic looking puppet struck the back of Kakashi's head with its large fist. Sakura let out a sigh of relief when Kakashi disappeared in a puff of smoke revealing a smashed log in his place.

"Sensei, don't worry about Chiyo-sama right now. The edo-tensei will heal any damage we do to her, so it's a waste of chakra to go after her. Focus on destroying her puppets for now, the edo-tensei can't heal those." Sakura called out to her sensei who had yet to reappear after using the substitution jutsu.

Chiyo chuckled as she observed the confident young woman standing in front of her. _Sakura has really grown since I've been alive. Good… I knew she would._

"Very observant Sakura, I'm not surprised at all that you would notice that."

Suddenly Chiyo's bald puppet with holes in its head crumpled to the ground as Kakashi appeared out of seemingly nowhere and stuck a chidori through its body. "A very good observation indeed Sakura."

_Three down, seven to go…_ Kakashi thought as he looked at the rest of the puppets. His gaze landed on his former pink-haired student, who curiously enough wasn't watching Chiyo's actual puppets. Her gaze seemed to be focused entirely on Chiyo's fingers.

_Why isn't she…_ Kakashi's eyes widened as realization struck. _A puppet can't act instaneously… By watching Chiyo's fingers she can figure out every single move the puppets are going to make. _

Sakura noticed one of Chiyo's fingers twitch and without even looking at the puppet striking at her, weaved to her right dodging its strike. She finally gave the puppet her attention; it had spiky black hair and had the mark of Buddha on its mouth.

Sakura scanned Chiyo's remaining puppets until she found a puppet with the sangha seal and hurled the spiky-haired puppet at it with her chakra-enhanced strength. The two puppets shattered as they collided with each other.

Emerald eyes again turned to Chiyo's fingers. Those same eyes widened in momentary panic. _Shit!_ Sakura twisted her body around to dodge the sword of Chiyo's red-haired puppet, but she knew she was going to be too late.

Just before the sword could cleave into her, what appeared to be a hound made out of pure lightning leapt on the puppet and destroyed it.

_What was that technique?_ A bewildered Sakura thought as she stared at Kakashi. _It looked like he just manipulated his lightning chakra into the form of a beast… That's incredible!_

"That was an impressive technique Kakashi." Chiyo complimented as she sent the puppet with a dharma seal towards Kakashi. Before the puppet could get close to Kakashi, Sakura used chakra-enhanced speed to flicker in front of the puppet and smash it to pieces with a powerful thrust kick.

"Looks like we're even now eh Sakura?" Kakashi asked with a one-eyed smile as he walked to her side. "This is a little easier than I thought it was gonna be."

"These puppets were much quicker when Chiyo-sama and I fought Sasori, and used a lot of joint attacks… I think Chiyo-sama is resisting Kabuto as best as she can while we destroy her puppets." Sakura said, confirming Kakashi's suspicions.

"Well then, let's not waste anymore time then. We don't want her kindness to go to waste now do we?"

Sakura smiled as she watched the fingers of the old woman who had had an impact on her life even though she had only known her for a few days. "Hai sensei, let's finish them all of right now. Do something to take Chiyo-sama's attention off of me if you don't mind."

"Of course Sakura." Kakashi leapt towards the red puppet, just as he got close, it lifted its face to reveal four spinning blades made solely out of chakra. The copy nin dug his feet into the ground to stop himself.

Once Sakura saw Chiyo's focus shift to Kakashi her hands flew in a myriad of signs.

Kakashi swore as the puppet with long hair shot its hand out and connected with the red puppet. He heard Sakura mutter something as the long-haired puppet began to hurl the red puppet around. The copy nin prepared to dodge the red puppet as it was hurtled in his direction, but to his surprise, the puppet missed by a good five feet.

He heard the sound of a puppet being destroyed and looked over to see Sakura standing over what remained of the one-eyed puppet that had been inactive throughout their battle. His former student flickered in front of the long-haired puppet. The puppet attempted to kick Sakura, but it kicked in completely the wrong direction, and Sakura rewarded its mistake with a powerful chakra-enhanced punch.

Kakashi gathered lightning chakra around his hand and finished off the red puppet with chidori before turning back to Sakura with a curious expression on his face.

"How…?"

"That was a difficult genjutsu to detect Sakura." Chiyo complimented with a smile.

_Genjutsu… So that's why Sakura wanted me to distract Chiyo. To make sure that she didn't suspect being caught in a genjutsu._

"Altering my senses just slightly so that I saw everything about five feet to the left of where it actually is. I'm sure you've surpassed your master by now if you can cast a genjutsu like that."

Sakura blushed slightly at the compliment. "Well… I'm not sure about that…"

"If she hasn't yet, she's well on her way." Kakashi quipped with his typical one-eyed smile, causing Sakura to blush a little more.

"Well… now that you two have gotten the hard-stuff out of the way, I think I'm going to stop resisting Kabuto now. It's quite tiring and after seeing the two of you fight, I'm sure you can handle little old me by myself?" Chiyo called out in a tired tone.

"I think we'll be fine, thank you Chiyo-sama." Kakashi replied.

Sakura and Kakashi dropped into their fighting stance as Chiyo charged them.

* * *

"You expect us to believe it's that simple?" Tsunade asked incredulously causing Madara to chuckle.

"Don't forget, you have to get to Kabuto first Tsunade. But if you can get to him then all you need to do is take control of him and force him to make the seals of the dog, horse, and tiger to end it. That's something you Nara's shouldn't have a problem with, am I right?"

"And simply killing Kabuto won't cancel the technique?" Gaara asked calmly.

"It will not, those revived by the technique will simply continue on as they were commanded to by Kabuto before you kill him."

Tsunade opened her mouth to question Madara some more, but the ancient Uchiha beat her to the punch.

"Looks like I'm out of time here. My attention is needed elsewhere. Feel free to take your time defeating Kabuto." Madara called out in a jovial tone before swirling out of the room.

* * *

Naruto tensed the muscles in his legs as he prepared to leap towards the two brothers, but before he could attack, a familiar swirl appeared in between the leaf forces and the brothers. As the man materialized a flurry of emotions flew through Naruto's body. Dread, anger, determination…and fear. Try as he might, Naruto couldn't shake the memories of his most recent battle with this man- a battle in which this man toyed with him, and would've defeated Naruto if it weren't for the interference of the Yondaime.

"Everyone stay back, you're not on his level. Let me handle him." Naruto barked out as he drew more nature chakra into his body.

"You're going to handle me are you Naruto? I wasn't aware that you had reached my level of power." Madara chuckled as he fully materialized.

"I'm going to defeat you right now and end this stupid war!" Naruto exclaimed in a tone filled with confidence that he didn't exactly have as he stared at the ancient Uchiha.

_Damnit… why am I worried. I've spent this entire past year doing nothing but training for this moment… I can defeat him. I WILL DEFEAT HIM._

"Hmm, curious." Madara said casually. "As much as I would like to play with you, I'm not here for you just yet. So I'm afraid this fight of ours that you seek just won't be happening. Not that it wouldn't be hard to capture you Naruto, but with the hirashin it would be difficult to hang on to you. So it's just not worth my time to bother at this point. But don't worry Naruto, I'll come for you soon enough."

Naruto's toad-like eyes were wide with shock as he watched Madara turn his back on him and walk towards silver and gold brothers.

_I don't know what he's planning…_ Naruto thought as he grabbed a three pronged kunai out of his pouch. _But I'm not going to let this opportunity slip past me._ The jinchuriki threw this kunai at Madara and flashed to it just as it reached his body. His strike phased right through Madara.

The ancient Uchiha sighed, and used his rinnegan to blast Naruto backwards. "Come on Naruto… you should have remembered from last time that wouldn't work on me. I expect more out of someone with the blood of a senju running through their veins.

"Hey! I don't know who you are, but this kid and those life nin over there are ours. Back off." Ginkaku growled.

"Sorry, but you serve another purpose for me, you and your brother are finished with this fight." Madara calmly replied.

"Serve a purpose for you? I don't remember you being the one controlling the edo-tensei." Kinkaku sneered. "I see no reason to serve you."

Madara stopped directly in front of Ginkaku. "Well I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice." He proceeded to suck Ginkaku into his eye.

"GINKAKU!" Kinkaku roared in anger as the Kyubi's chakra began bubbling around him. "WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?"

"The same thing I'm going to do to you." Madara calmly replied. Red tails of chakra began sprouting out of Kinkaku, before a fourth tail could form, a three-pronged kunai thudded into the ground, and Naruto flashed behind him and quickly put him in a full-nelson lock.

"I'm afraid I can't allow you to turn him into a statue Naruto." Madara said as he teleported directly in front of Kinkaku and Naruto. He began to suck Kinkaku into his eye, which forced Naruto to flip backwards.

"Well, I have what I came here for." Madara said cheerily. "Enjoy what little time you have left in this world Naruto, I'll be back for the Kyubi soon."

"Stay here and fight me you bastard!" Naruto roared.

"Most people try to avoid their death Naruto, yet here you are challenging it directly…" Madara noted as he swirled away.

"Damn it!" Naruto swore. _Am I really still that weak that Madara completely ignores me? Am I really so weak that Madara doesn't even see me as a threat?_

"Naruto-sama!" The ANBU captain called out, bringing the jinchuriki out of his pessimistic thoughts. "Those artifacts the brothers were using… someone with as much chakra levels like yours could use them to seal the souls of the revived shinobi."

Naruto simply nodded and walked towards the discarded artifacts. As he reached for the golden rope, his senses tingled and he leapt backwards just as Zabuza's giant sword ripped out of the ground where Naruto had previously been standing.

* * *

Sakura dodged a punch from Chiyo, used her chakra scalpel to sever all the tendons in the old woman's legs, and then struck her in the chest with a powerful punch. She was about to follow up with another attack when she felt a chakra that she hadn't felt in just over a year. It was a chakra that filled her with dread. The chakra of the man who had almost taken Naruto away from her.

_Madara…_ Sakura panicked and turned towards Naruto's battle to see Madara standing in between her fiancé and the two demonic looking men who were using the Kyubi's chakra.

_Naruto…_ Just as Sakura was about to join Naruto against Madara, she felt chakra threads wrap around her arms and legs.

"Damnit!" Sakura swore as Chiyo manipulated her body to launch itself at Kakashi. Her former sensei dodged her strike and leapt backwards, creating some distance between them.

"That man… he scares you doesn't he?" Chiyo observed as she again sent Sakura after Kakashi. Sakura's fist connected with the ground as Kakashi again dodged her, creating a large crater.

"That man is who is responsible for all of this; he's the man who was really behind the Akatsuki." Kakashi answered for Sakura. "So you can understand why Sakura and I need to finish our fight here and join Naruto."

To Chiyo's surprise, Sakura used her chakra-enhanced strength to break off from Chiyo's chakra threads, giving Kakashi the distraction he needed to use one of the sealing scrolls on the old woman.

"Fuin suru." The old woman was sucked into the scroll admist a bright light.

Sakura sighed in relief and turned back to see how Naruto was doing against Madara and gasped. _Madara is gone… and so are those two demonic looking men… Did Naruto beat them all that quickly?_

Her eyes landed on her fiancé and she instantly noticed the frustrated look on his face. _No… if he had beaten Madara he would be jumping around for joy right now…_ She began running towards Naruto as he walked towards the discarded weapons that the two demonic looking men had been using, and was quickly joined by Kakashi.

The pair gasped when Zabuza's executioner blade shot out of the ground forcing Naruto to leap backwards, followed by the demon of the mist himself.

"Damnit… looks like our sealing scrolls don't work against the edo-tensei." Kakashi muttered.

* * *

"I'm glad you came back Zabuza." Naruto said. "Now we just need Haku to show up." As if Naruto's words were a cue, ice senbon suddenly rained down on Naruto. He flickered away before he could be turned into a human pincushion for the second time in his life.

"Naruto!" Sakura greeted as she suddenly flickered to his side. "Are you ok?" Her emerald eyes were filled with the worry.

"I'm fine Sakura-chan." Naruto replied with his "normal" foxy smile.

"You must've done well to drive Madara away that quickly Naruto." Kakashi complimented as he joined his former students.

A disappointed frown briefly flashed on Naruto's face, but he quickly shoved it away in place for a cheesy grin. Both Sakura and Kakashi both easily noticed his frown.

"Hehe, you know me sensei." Naruto said in as cocky of a tone as he could muster.

The look on Sakura's face told Naruto that she wasn't fooled, but before she could say anything, the flare that the small Konoha strike force had been waiting for the entire battle finally was launched into the sky, sparing Naruto from anymore questioning…for now.

"Well that's my cue, and I got a promise to keep!" Naruto said cheerfully as he quickly flickered away from his fiancé and appeared directly behind Zabuza.

"I told you I'd save you guys didn't I Haku?" Naruto asked with a true smile while he locked Zabuza in a full nelson lock and began channeling nature chakra into the undead swordsman.

Haku resisted Kabuto's control as he watched Zabuza transform into a toad stone statue. Before he could so much as utter a thank you, Naruto was behind him and had his arms restrained.

"So long Haku, thanks again." Naruto whispered. Haku felt the nature chakra enter his body, its power was incredible. He could only imagine how powerful Naruto had become.

"Thank you…Naruto." Haku whispered just before transforming into a stone toad statue himself. Naruto let go of the now Haku statue and nearly fell backwards. _Damn, forcing those transformations took more out of me than I thought it would… _

The jinchuriki tried to steady himself but he had used up nearly all of his chakra. Before he could stumble anymore, Sakura appeared in front of him and scooped him up bridal style.

"Sakura-chan…what are you doing?" Naruto asked as his face was flushed with embarrassment.

"You're too tired to run to our barrier, so I'm going to carry you. I have plenty of chakra left." Sakura replied as if there was nothing strange about the situation at all.

"I'll be fine Sakura-chan. Besides… what will people think if they see their hero getting carried around by a girl?"

"What's wrong with a girl carrying a man?" Sakura growled, her face had a look that told Naruto he better watch his words carefully.

"Oh? Umm… well it's just… well tradition you know…" Naruto stammered nervously.

"Shut up baka." Sakura said softly with a warm smile on her face.

Naruto did as his fiancé commanded and remained silent as the Konoha nin took off in a full retreat.

_Great… All of the villagers will be waiting for us when we get back to the village. I'm never going to hear the end of this…_ Naruto thought dejectedly, although he still wore a small smile on his face.

* * *

"So they're running? That's strange…" Kabuto said to no one in particular. "Was the point of that battle really just so Naruto-kun could force the toad statue transformation on two of my undead shinobi? I expected better of Konoha. How disappointing…" _But at least Zabuza and Haku provided enough distraction to keep Naruto from getting ahold of the sage's relics…_

Kabuto heard a swirling sound and turned around to see Madara Uchiha standing before him.

"Ah Madara-sama, so nice of you to show up. Although did you really have to take the silver and gold brothers from me? They were some of my favorite puppets. They both don't have that much of the Kyubi's chakra in them."

"Every little bit helps Kabuto." Madara replied. "Are you going to continue your march on Konoha?"

"Of course Madara-sama. It only took my forces 15 minutes to force them to retreat; Konoha will be nothing more than a memory soon."

Madara nodded. "Good. Goodbye Kabuto." The ancient Uchiha disappeared in his swirling vortex.

_Hmmm… the way Madara said goodbye…_ Kabuto scratched his chin in pensive thought as he thought about the last of the Uchiha clan.

* * *

"Alright barrier team… get ready… Here they come!" Shikamaru ordered as the leaf strike team came into view. They were being chased by hundreds of undead shinobi.

Shikamaru sighed in relief as the last Konoha nin crossed the barrier line.

"Ok, put up the barriers now!" In a matter of seconds a large yellow barrier shot up to the sky as the barrier team completed its job. Kabuto's forces bounced off the barrier and began launching jutsu after jutsu at it, but just as Shikamaru had planned, the barrier held strong.

"Alright everyone, let's head back to the village. Oh and Naruto…" Shikamaru glanced over Naruto who was still being carried by Sakura like he was her bride. Naruto looked at Shikamaru to see his lazy friend smirking at him and prepared for the first of many waves of teasing to come when everyone sees Sakura carrying him around.

"Try not to squeal in delight when she carries you over the threshold."

Naruto sighed. "You know Sakura-chan…I'm really fine now. I swear!" _If she lets me down now, I can just deny it ever happened and when people from the strike and barrier teams try and tell people about it I'll just call them liars… Then I'll play the hero card. I can see it now. "Hey, I beat Pain, do you really think I would need Sakura to carry me around?" Ya… This will work…_

"Not going to happen Naruto. You're exhausted, why don't you just get some rest." Sakura suggested. Truthfully she realized Naruto could walk just fine on his own; he could certainly walk just by using her arms for support, but she liked carrying him. She didn't get a chance to carry him around all that often, and this would help send a message to his increasing number of fan girls. Sure, she had a ring now to keep them at bay with, but seeing her carrying him around would just further solidify the message that Naruto was Sakura's, and Sakura's alone.

"I'm not tired… just let me walk Sakura-chan. I think I need to stretch my legs!" Naruto whined, hoping the approach of a child would be able to save him from an embarrassing situation.

"If you don't stop whining I'm just going to use a genjutsu on you to put you to sleep." Sakura threatened with a playful smile on her face.

"That's mean Sakura-chan…" Naruto muttered.

"What was that?" Sakura asked sweetly as she placed a hand on Naruto's temple.

"Nothing Sakura. Nothing at all, thanks for carrying me!" Naruto quickly replied.

"Good answer." Sakura grinned down at him as the Konoha forces continued back to their village.

* * *

The Konoha forces walked through the gate and were greeted by a large number of both shinobi and civilians. As Naruto predicted, many people snickered at the sight of Konoha's powerful hero being carried around bridal style by his fiancé.

"Shikamaru…" Sakura's beautiful voice brought Naruto out of his embarrassed thoughts. "Do you need anything more from Naruto and me?"

"No, Kakashi can accompany me when I report to the Hokage."

"Good. I'm taking Naruto home then." The jinchuriki swore he could hear Kiba snickering and thought he heard something about him being Sakura's bitch. Sakura apparently heard this as well and stopped in her tracks to turn to Kiba. She decided to give her fiancé a break; she was well aware of the amount of teasing he was going to receive for being carried around by her.

"Say what you will Kiba… but at the end of the day, at least Naruto can say he's getting some… can you?" Sakura said with a smirk. It took a lot of control to stop herself from laughing not just at the shocked expression on Kiba's face, but the wide and startled eyes of her fiancé as well.

"I eh… well…" Kiba stammered, trying to come up with some sort of comeback. After trying to think of a good comeback, he dropped his head dejectedly. "Damnit…"

Sakura looked around at the rest of the crowd gathered around and silently dared any of them to tease her fiancé any further. But after seeing what just happened to Kiba, there were no takers. Satisfied, Sakura took off towards her and Naruto's apartment.

Naruto and Sakura walked (well Sakura walked, Naruto was just along for the ride) to their apartment in a pleasant silence. The pinkette finally let Naruto down once they were inside.

"So you just couldn't wait to get me home eh Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a grin.

"I couldn't. Now you're going to tell me what happened on the battlefield today. I know something related to Madara has hurt you. So don't even bother trying to cover it up. I'm your fiancé and you will tell me when something is wrong; just like I'll tell you when something is wrong with me." Sakura replied, crushing her boyfriend's hopes of a…romantic evening.

His normally smiling face dropped into a frustrated frown. "It's not that…"

"Tell me." Sakura interrupted.

"It's just… Madara appeared on the battlefield today."

"I know; I sensed him. I was going to come help you out, but Chiyo-sama interfered."

"When I saw Madara, I assumed that this was it. This was going to be the moment that I fought my legendary battle with Madara and saved the world… And I was scared. Scared of what happened the last time we fought."

"Naruto there's nothing wrong with being…"

"And that's not the thing that has gotten to me the most." Naruto quickly added, interrupting Sakura's attempt to console him. His emerald-eyed angel just stared at him, with that same concerned look on her face that he had seen so much since returning on his training trip with Jiraiya.

"Madara didn't even show up today for me. To him, it was just a mere coincidence that I was there. He wasn't threatened by me in the slightest… He turned his back on me, and completely dropped his guard, so I tried to attack him. But I failed, and he easily sent me flying. I've spent the entire past year training so I could beat him and he still beat me easily. I'm not even strong enough for him to even remotely consider me a threat… If I'm still this weak… how am I going to defeat Madara? How am I going to save the world?"

Sakura smiled softly at Naruto and cupped his face. "Who knows how you are going to do it… I certainly don't. But you're Naruto, so I know you will."

"Sakura-chan… it might be…"

"Impossible?" Sakura interrupted. "Don't forget Naruto, you've spent your entire life doing the impossible. You've not just beaten opponents who seemed to be much stronger than you, but you've managed to make them a better person. Look at Nagato. You defeated his Pain paths and convinced him to revive every single Konoha citizen that died during the Pain attack."

"But…" Naruto started.

"And look at me." Sakura interrupted. "Just six years ago I would have told you it would be impossible for you to win my heart. But yet again, you made the impossible possible and I'm happy to now say that I love you so very much. Where six years ago I would've told you that I would want to spend as little time with you as possible, now I hate being away from you for even a few minutes."

Naruto looked at Sakura with a warm smile. "I guess I do have a habit of doing the impossible eh?"

Sakura leaned forward and softly kissed him on the lips. "Yes you do."

Sakura stepped back from Naruto and grabbed his hand."Now I did tell Kiba that you were going to be getting some tonight…" Sakura said in a sultry voice. She began leading the pair towards their bedroom. "And I certainly wouldn't want to be called a liar…" The look on Naruto's face told her that he had forgotten all about his doubt about facing Madara.

* * *

Whew! Alright, last time I updated I said the new job was going to be slowing down enough to where I could start updating regularly again. **If you read my story _Guardian_ or follow my writing thread over on the Heaven and Earth forums there is no need for you to read this next part, because you've already read it. I mean it, I directly copied and pasted it because I'm a tad bit lazy:**

I know last update I said you can expect weekly updates again because my new job was going to calm down. Sadly, that was not the case. Instead of my job calming down, I instead worked 80 hour weeks all through April! On the plus side- I got some pretty good overtime pay. On the negative side- my life for the month of April consisted of: going to work, coming home, working from home, going to bed. Rinse and repeat. =P So, with that lesson learned, I will promise that I will get updates for this story out as quickly as I can. Ideally I would like to update it once a week, but sometimes it's just not possible. On a bright note- my boss swears that this past month is not normal and I shouldn't plan on working 80 hour weeks very often, this was just a really busy month!

**ALRIGHT! Start reading below this again, because I'm going to comment on this most recent chapter.**

This chapter was one of the most difficult ones that I've ever written mainly due to the fact that I foolishy wrote in opponents whose fighting styles I wasn't overly familiar with. I sorta skimmed through the manga chapters/anime episodes where Chiyo fought, and the Silver and Gold Brothers curse was so convoluted that I had already forgotten exactly how it worked. As a result, I'm not thrilled with these fighting scenes, but I at least like to think I salvaged them a little and they're not among the worst things ever written in fanfiction!

Also, for the first time ever, I had difficulty coming up with a chapter title. Not really important, just a random side note =P

**What's coming next chapter:**

Next chapter is going to be another peaceful chapter. Konoha and its allies will be resting while they wait for Kabuto's army to break through the barrier. So you can expect some fluff, probably some secondary pairing developments/moments, and just some general set up for the main battle. After next chapter all hell will break loose and I think you'll be in for a good ride =) I'm REALLY excited to write the fights that I have planned for the end of this story. Giddy with excitement even.

**Thanks for reading, please do review, and I shall see you next time =)  
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	8. Welcome Distractions

Anddd finally got this chapter done! It's an extra long one! It's already chapter 8 and I haven't even started the big grand battle. My original intent was for this to follow _A Jinchuriki's Husk_ format be a 10 chapter story, but I don't really think I can wrap the story up in 2 chapters. Look for this one to to 12'ish chapters or so. That's my prediction anyways.

Thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/alerted my this story so far!

My thanks and shout outs to everyone who reviewed since last time: Toasty Warrior, Echo Uchiha, ZeroTail29, Blazing CobaltX, Jozern, Goddess of Night Eternal Faith, Nutt Man 117, saveme57, Otaku Overlord

* * *

**Toasy Warrior**: Glad you liked the chapter! And at the end of the day, I don't really think Naruto was complaing =P

**Echo Uchiha: **=)**  
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**ZeroTail29: **In my opinion, and from my interpretation of Sakura and Naruto's characters from the mangas, if (when) Sakura and Naruto get together Sakura will totally be in charge. Those fists of hers keep Naruto in line as is, just imagine if she could play the girlfriend card. Shippuden Sakura is different from pre-shippuden Sakura in that she really doesn't take shit from anybody. Sakura pre-shippuden just didn't take shit from Naruto. Naruto on the other hand is completely dedicated to making her happy, and I don't see his character minding at all when Sakura bosses him around as long as he's with her. Those are my two cents anyways. I'm really happy to read that you enjoyed the fight scenes though, I was worried about them.**  
**

**Blazing CobaltX: **(He's back =P) Sadly I think my job is going to keep from updating regularly. This chapter took extra long just because I struggled so much with it, so when I had time to write, it went even slower. I'm really excited about the final chapters of this story and basically have them written out in my mind, so when I get time to write they should fly out. I wish I could update more but what're ya gonna do... I'm glad you enjoyed the fight. And hell no Sakura's not weak! She can break bones with her dainty little pinky! =P**  
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**Jozern: **Ya, I definitely struggled on the battle scenes last chapter. There are none in this chapter, but I don't expect to be struggling on any more of the battles from here on out because I've had them planned since I first started this story! Hope you enjoy this last chapter of happy peacefulness before this story comes to an end as all hell breaks loose! =)**  
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**Goddess of Night Eternal Faith: **I'm glad the chapter could make your day =) And Naruto's a man, we got our pride! **  
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**Nutt Man 117: **If only that had been the real Neji that Sakura whooped on. But oh well, she was still pretty badass! Although I hated where her thoughts went the next chapter, but she did have a frown on her face... Glad you enjoyed the last chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one too!**  
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**saveme57: **Ya... I originally thought about doing that, but I quickly realized while trying to write their fight that I simply didn't know enough about their characters to write a good fight so I had to get out of that a little prematurely. My apologies, but the fights starting next chapter will make up for it... (I hope) =)**  
**

**Otaku:** Hehe, all in good time...I think! And ya, Kabuto is a creepy character. Has his dead master floating around in him, surrounds himself with hordes of zombies... I wouldn't want to hang out with him on a weekend, I can tell you that

* * *

Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Naruto would've beaten the crap out of Sasuke the first time they saw him in Shippuden. I mean really... I spared you on a whim? What a load of crap, those are grounds for a good butt kicking if I've ever heard one!

Now let's get on with the show shall we? Please do enjoy _A Jinchuriki's Strength_- Chapter 8: Welcome Distractions

* * *

"Well Shikamaru? Do you think Madara was telling the truth?" Shikaku Nara asked his son who was carefully studying Neji's memories from observing Kabuto during Konoha's skirmish. Shikamaru was taking in every single detail. He had been studying Neji's memory for the past 14 minutes and it was obvious Ino was exhausted.

"From observing Kabuto, it would appear that way. But I'll need to view Hinata's memory on the revived shinobi before I can safely reach a conclusion. Thank you Ino, that will be all for today."

Ino sighed in relief and dropped her jutsu. Her legs wobbled slightly, but before she could fall, Chouji reached her side and put a supportive arm around her waist. The blonde gave her teammate a grateful smile.

"What have you deduced about the edo-tensei so far Shikamaru?" Tsunade asked.

"It's definitely an advanced form of the summoning jutsu which means Madara was correct when he said we can't stop the edo-tensei army by killing Kabuto. I have more suspicions, but I'll wait until I've seen the revived shinobi before I say anything more."

Shikaku looked at his son with a look of pride. _Shikamaru has grown so much over these past few years… He's grown so much during this past year alone…_

"Well if that will be all for now Hokage-sama, I think Shikamaru and I will be taking our leave now." Shikaku said.

"Right. Everyone is dismissed; I will see you all here at the same time tomorrow."

* * *

Naruto woke up with a happy grin on his face. Last night had been well worth the embarrassment he suffered in the arms of his emerald-eyed angel. He softly pressed his lips against the top of her pink-haired head and hugged her even closer to him.

It was mornings like this one that made him feel like he was living in a dream. Sakura looked like an ethereal goddess nestled up against him. Sure he always talked a big game growing up, but there were plenty of times that he would dream of his future and he would be alone, while Sakura was happily married to Sasuke.

But here he was, his 12 year-old-self would give him a cheesy grin before yelling "Yatta!" at the top of his lungs if he could see him now. He won. Naruto Uzumaki got the girl of his dreams.

It was during moments like this one that Naruto could temporarily put aside his anxiety for the future. He could temporarily forget that Kabuto and an army of undead shinobi were currently throwing themselves against a barrier so they can get to and destroy Konoha. He could forget about the apparent difference in power between him and Madara.

A yawn brought Naruto out of his thoughts and his sapphire eyes refocused on his favorite kunoichi.

"Morning Sakura-chan!"

"Ah good morning Naruto." Sakura sleepily replied. "What time is it?"

"It's still early Sakura, you can go back to sleep." Apparently, that was the answer Sakura was looking for. Without opening her eyes, she sleepily pecked Naruto's lips and then nuzzled into his neck and tightened the hold she had on him.

Sakura's gentle breaths on his neck gave him a warm and tingly feeling, and lulled him to sleep. Naruto softly kissed the top of Sakura's head one more time before falling asleep himself.

* * *

Shikamaru analyzed the shogi board carefully. He hadn't played his father in at least a year, and he was determined to beat his father. Unlike Asuma, Shikaku regularly beat him in shogi while he was growing up.

Shikamaru smirked and moved one of his pieces. A look of surprise momentarily flashed onto his dad's face at Shikamaru's move, but it was gone as quick as it came.

"An interesting strategy…" Shikaku mused. "You certainly…"

"THERE YOU ARE!" A feminine voice interrupted the elder Nara's words. "I've been looking all over for you since the Konoha forces returned to Konoha yesterday!"

"I haven't been that hard to find troublesome woman…" Shikamaru muttered under his breath. He had learned by now that he needed to be careful with his words around Temari, she was a very "pro girl power" kind of girl.

"Troublesome woman?" Temari growled. "You're the troublesome one here! You go off to a battle, and don't even let me know when you've returned? I only knew you were ok after I asked around the village if anyone had seen you."

Shikamaru sighed. "I wasn't even in the actual battle itself. And since when do I have to check in with you all the time? Last I checked I'm not your boyfriend."

Shikaku, while amused at his son's reaction, couldn't help but mentally smack his head. He remembered saying something similar to Shikamaru's mother when they first started dating. That hadn't ended well…

"YOU'RE NOT MY BOYFRIEND?" Temari roared as her eyes turned white. Shikamaru looked up at the angry kunoichi and gulped. _Maybe I should've worded that differently…_

_Here it comes…_ Shikaku thought with a smirk.

"You lazy no good son of a…" Temari began muttering before taking a deep breath and calming herself down. Her lips turned upwards into a devious grin.

"So if you were my boyfriend you would check in with me regularly eh?"

_Crap… _Shikamaru thought with a sweat drop. He knew exactly where Temari was going with this, and his mind kicked into overdrive to come up with some sort of defense.

"Well then… from here on out you're my boyfriend."

A small smirk formed on Shikamaru's face. "Jeez, you really are troublesome. Fine. If that will shut you up…"

A tick mark appeared on Temari's forehead as she clenched her fist.

"I'm your boyfriend. I'll try to check in with you next time, even though it's a major pain."

Temari smiled at her now boyfriend and gave him a quick kiss on the lips, before grabbing his hands and pulling Shikamaru up to his feet.

"Sorry Shikaku-san, but Shikamaru needs to escort me around the village. It's been too long since I've gotten to walk around here!"

Shikaku merely nodded as he stared at his son and his son's girlfriend with a dumbfounded expression.

_Shikamaru said all of THAT to a woman like THAT and all he got was a kiss? Yoshino beat me into next week when I spoke to her like that all those years ago… Not fair…_ Shikaku thought as a sweat-drop ran down his head.

* * *

"What's the holdup here?" Kabuto snapped at one of his revived shinobi. "I have the strongest ninjas that have ever lived at my command, yet we can't break through this simple barrier?"

"Apologies Kabuto-sama, but at the rate we're going, we're not going to break through this barrier for at least another couple of days."

Kabuto angrily smashed his fist into the revived shinobi's face, which instantly started repairing itself.

_If Konoha thinks the extra days this barrier is buying them is going to make any sort of a difference, they are sadly mistaken. In the end, all this barrier is doing is delaying their complete destruction by a couple of days._

* * *

"You look calm considering there's an army of undead shinobi about to march on our position Kazekage-sama." The Mizukage noted as the two stood at the top of the main village gate, observing the barrier that was just at the edge of their site.

Gaara regarded his companion with a rare smile. "There's no need for me to worry, we have Naruto on our side."

"You have that much faith in the boy? He seemed pretty strong when I briefly met him, and I know he beat Pain by himself… but you really think he is enough to beat an entire army of undead shinobi?" Mei asked.

"You don't know Naruto as well as I do Mizukage-sama. No matter how badly the situation is stacked against him, he always manages to come out on top. He's done what many considered impossible more times than I can count. Naruto won't lose. And with Naruto on our side, that means our side won't lose. That's why I'm not worried."

"But what of the lives of your people that are going to be lost in this battle? Surely you can't naïve enough to believe that Naruto's strength is enough to prevent a single casualty."

Gaara sighed as his eyes again returned to the barrier in the distance. "Naruto is strong, and Naruto seemingly bends realty to his will with his determination, but he is not a god. I know people from my village are going to die, people from yours are going to die, and people from Konoha shall die as well. But after this battle is over, one of the bigger threats to this world will be dead. Naruto will have defeated Kabuto. The lives our villagers will lose in this upcoming battle will prevent many more innocent lives from being taken."

"I see." Mei nodded. "Your faith in your friend is admirable. I like you; you're still pure amongst the kages. If you believe in Naruto so much, then I guess I'll put my faith in him too."

"Naruto…" Another small smile formed on Gaara's face. "Won't let you down."

* * *

Naruto sneezed, waking the sleeping bundle of pink in his arms. Bright sunlight was streaming through the windows at this point, it was getting to be late in the afternoon.

"Mmm… what time is it Naruto?" Sakura groggily mumbled into his chest.

"Well… it's a little later than last time…" Naruto started nervously. Sakura liked sleeping in…to a point. He always had to suffer her wrath if he didn't wake her up by a certain point. She felt like she completely wasted her day if she woke up past noon. Unfortunately for Naruto, it was far past that point. It was 4:00. He had been awake for 5 hours now and he easily could've waken her, but he just couldn't bring himself to wake her when she had such a peaceful look on her face."

Sakura's eyes snapped open at Naruto's words, and she went to move her head so she could see the time on the clock. Fearing for his own life, Naruto restrained her, and held her head to his chest.

"Na-ru-to…" Sakura growled dangerously.

The jinchuriki sighed. "Just remember Sakura-chan… you can't kill me or even seriously injure me. I'm going to be needed in the battle against Kabuto. If you kill me now, you're seriously hurting your home's war efforts!"

Sakura channeled chakra into her neck muscles and broke free of Naruto's restraints, her emerald eyes quickly locked onto the alarm clock on her and Naruto's nightstand.

"FOUR O'CLOCK?" Sakura yelled loudly enough for the entire village to hear, heck Kabuto and his undead army were probably able to hear her yell. "You know I hate sleeping in this late! Why didn't you wake me up?"

"It's not my fault! I'm not your alarm clock!" Naruto quickly countered hoping logic would win him this argument.

"Says who?" Sakura yelled again. "You've been waking me up for the past year! You wake up so early, I rarely wake up before you!"

Naruto opened his mouth to retort, but suddenly the wise words of his deceased master rang through his mind.

_FLASHBACK_

"_If you're dealing with a tired woman, don't bother arguing with her." Jiraiya told a young Naruto as the two sat eating instant ramen under the shade of a large tree after a long day of training._

" _No matter what you say, you'll be wrong. You can't win an argument. As a matter of fact, the longer you try to argue, the worse it will be for you in the end, so just give up as soon as the argument starts, admit you were wrong, and apologize. It's your best chance for survival!"_

"_But Ero-Sennin, I never give up, that's my ninja way!" Naruto whined._

"_And it's an honorable ninja way at that, but trust me on this one kid. Your ninja way isn't worth trying to argue with a tired woman."_

"_No way, I'm never going to give up Ero-Sennin!"_

_Jiraiya chuckled at his young apprentice. "One day you'll learn, and one day you'll realize the truth in my words."_

_FLASHIN_

_Thank you Ero-Sennin._ Naruto thought as he nodded his head sagely. Sakura had continued to yell at him while he was lost in his thoughts.

"Ne, you're right Sakura-chan!" Naruto interrupted his pink-haired fiancé. "I didn't do my job as your alarm clock, and I'm sorry."

Sakura's ranting stopped as she blinked at Naruto in surprise, her mouth slightly agape.

"Umm…" Honestly, Sakura had not been prepared for this. She expected Naruto to argue with her, and try to defend his actions when he was clearly in the wrong. Then she would end this "debate" with her preferred method of smacking Naruto upside the head, healing him, and then quickly kissing him on the cheek to get rid of his pouting face. She didn't know how to react to this Naruto who was not only admitting he was wrong, but apologizing.

_Ero-Sennin was a genius! I can't believe I haven't tried this earlier! She didn't even hit me, this is awesome! _Naruto was bouncing around for joy in his head, flashing the victory sign all about.

"Do you forgive me Sakura-chan?" Naruto asked with a grin, as his fiancé continued staring at him with a flabbergasted look on her face.

"Umm… of course." Sakura sputtered. _Damnit, why can't I think of anything? I need to keep him in line! _"But don't let it happen again!" She attempted to threaten. Unfortunately for Sakura, she only managed to squeak it out in her current baffled state.

_Damnit, I need to retake control of this situation now!_ Sakura thought as she furiously tried to jumpstart her genius brain.

Naruto on the other hand was too busy celebrating his indirect victory to notice the pensive look on Sakura's face that meant she was thinking. Had he, he may have stopped celebrating and pressed his advantage.

Sakura's face suddenly transformed into a grin, and from his vantage point in heaven Jiraiya smacked his head in disappointment.

"Now, you're going to make it up to me by taking me shopping… with Ino. I haven't had a chance to really talk to her about your proposal yet, and I'm sure Ino would love to have you there while I tell her."

Naruto's mind celebrations came to a complete stop as he stared into the emerald eyes of the love of his life with a horrified expression on his face.

"What? I apologized! Why would I…"

"You did apologize." Sakura interrupted with a grin. _I'm back. _"You admitted you were wrong, so to make it up to me, you're going to do this."

Naruto groaned. "Fine…" _Damn you Ero-Sennin. That was the worst advice I've ever received! I would've much rather been beaten and healed than be the pack mule that Sakura and Ino use to hold their bags, all while Sakura and Ino talk on and on about girl stuff that I could care less about…_

"But we're getting ramen afterwards!" Naruto quickly added.

Sakura simply smiled at her fiancé and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I can live with that." A happy grin instantly lit up Naruto's face.

_Oh ya! And people were calling me whipped…_ Naruto cockily grinned in his head.

"I'm gonna grab a quick shower and then we'll leave." Sakura called over her shoulder as she walked into their bathroom. She caught one last glimpse of Naruto with a cocky grin. She smirked. She had told him she could live with ramen, but she failed to tell him that there's no way Ino would go to ramen on a shopping day. Especially now that the new health food market opened up and had stands where one could get a very healthy and green lunch. She felt a little bad for deceiving Naruto, but she would make it up to him later… This was going to be too funny.

* * *

An hour and a half later found Naruto and a few of his clones walking with bags and boxes piled high in their arms. Apparently the threat of impending doom was good motivation for shopkeepers to have amazing sales. Naruto honestly couldn't remember the last time Sakura or Ino had seen something they wanted to buy and did not end up buying it.

The past hour had been torture for the poor jinchuriki. At first Ino interrogated Naruto on his motivation for every single tiny aspect of his plan… which forced him to make up explanations for some things he just did because he thought it would look cool. After her interrogation was over, she instantly declared herself maid of honor and she and Sakura gabbed on and on about Naruto and Sakura's wedding.

At first, he tried to be involved in the conversation. It was his wedding too after all. But when he suggested orange and blue as the color scheme for their wedding all he got was a glare from Ino and a smack to the back of the head from his bride to be. After that fiasco he decided to stay out of it, and only speak up if he really needed to.

"Oh my gosh, have you thought about the food yet?"

"Well no, I guess I haven't!"

_Food? That's it… I'm taking a stand!_ Naruto gathered his courage and a determined look shone in his eyes.

"We're going to have ramen, believe it!"

Sakura sighed, and Ino snorted in laughter.

"Naruto… no one has ramen at a wedding. Jeez Sakura, are you sure you want to marry this baka?" Ino got out in between laughs.

"But…" Naruto started.

"He's my baka Ino." Sakura interrupted her fiancé as she gave him a soft smile. "And this is Naruto we're talking about. I'm alright with having ramen at our wedding for him." _At least I'm alright with casting another genjutsu on him to make him think he's eating ramen…_ Sakura added mentally.

"YATTA!" Naruto yelled in pure glee. "That's one of the countless reasons I love you Sakura-chan!"

Ino sighed. "Fine… you'll have ramen… at your wedding. Sakura Haruno will serve ramen to her wedding guests." Ino repeated the last part to see if her best friend was really ok with serving ramen at her wedding. She knew Sakura's dream wedding, and knew for a fact that ramen was never even close to being involved.

"Believe it!" Sakura chirped, taking a page out of her fiancé's book. They continued to talk about more wedding stuff, and Naruto again tuned the pair out. Before he knew it, they had arrived at Ino's house. Naruto and his clones went inside to drop off her packages and then returned outside where Sakura and Ino were still talking about his wedding.

"Well that was fun Ino, we'll have to do this again sometime soon!" Sakura said with a smile.

"Definitely, although the sales won't be as good after we kick Kabuto's ass!" This caused everyone to chuckle, and just as Naruto and Sakura turned to walk home, Ino's voice stopped them.

"Wait, Naruto?"

"Huh? What is it Ino?"

"I know I ragged on you a lot today, but I want you to know that I'm glad this is happening. You've always treated Sakura right, and your proposal was better than her dream proposal. Thanks for taking care of my best friend, and if you hurt her, I'll hurt you." Ino grinned.

"I would never hurt Sakura… and thank you Ino." Naruto replied with a smile of his own. Without another word he and Sakura began walking back towards his house.

"Well that was sweet of her." Sakura spoke up after a few minutes of walking. "Now why don't you summon some more clones?"

"What? Why?"

"So they can take the rest of these packages home, and I can take you to Ichiraku's. I originally said yes because I knew Ino would say no, but I quickly decided against denying you ramen during shopping today. That's why I decided against all three of us having lunch together."

The only response Sakura received was three poofs of smoke, the sound of bags and boxes transferring hands, then suddenly being swept off her feet and into the strong arms of her fiancé.

"Naruto I told you not to carry me!" Sakura huffed.

But Naruto's mind was elsewhere. After the torture that had been his shopping trip, the promise of ramen consumed his mind. He hurtled off towards his favorite ramen stand at blinding speeds, completely oblivious to the fake protests of his emerald-eyed angel.

* * *

Kakashi stood staring at the memorial stone as he had done so many times. He wondered how many new people were going to have their names carved in it after the war. The copy nin let out a heavy sigh. He had failed so many people in his life… Obito, Rin, Minato, Sasuke… That was just a small list. Now here Konoha was about to go into war again, and his two remaining students would be on the front line.

Never one to show his emotion, a casual observer would only see a somber Kakashi staring at the stone. But inside of his mind, Kakashi was worried. He was worried that he would fail to protect his precious people again. Naruto especially was going to be a major target for Kabuto's army.

Even though Kakashi had saved the day numerous times, and done so much good for the village, the lives of those he failed to protect still haunted him. Kakashi clenched his fist and took a deep and calming breath.

_I will not let Naruto or Sakura die. This time, I will not fail._

* * *

Lee stood in front of a large boulder, punching it with all of his might. He needed help from Gai-sensei, the Anbu and Naruto to fight those two brothers. They were strong, but he could've been stronger.

_Everyone will need to be at their strongest in the coming fight. I will use my genius of hard work to become powerful enough to hold my own against all of the shinobi Kabuto has revived!_

Lee launched a powerful kick into the boulder and a satisfied grin appeared on his face as his leg smashed through the boulder as if it was butter. The boulder cracked and crumbled to the ground.

* * *

Sakura was slightly bored as she sit in the ramen stand with her fiancé, but she couldn't complain… too much. Apparently carrying around Sakura and Ino's bags while they shopped somehow managed to give Naruto an even greater appetite for ramen than normal. It was still bright out when they entered the ramen stand... and now stars were twinkling in the sky.

She tried to push away the feeling of annoyance at spending the past three hours in a ramen stand... but this was starting to test her patience. _I have to stay calm, Naruto was so sweet today, he didn't even mumble a single complaint. He deserves this…_

"Still hungry Naruto?" She asked her ravenous fiancé who apparently decided not to just go for his new record of most ramen ate in one sitting, but had decided to obliterate the record instead. She hoped that a little conversation would distract her from her growing annoyance. She really didn't want to hit him when she was trying to thank him for being such a sweet heart earlier.

Naruto turned to give Sakura an innocent grin, but he could see the signs on her face. The smile was a little too forced, her posture a little too rigid, and her foot was shaking. She was trying to her best to be patient with him.

Just then, Naruto noticed that it was dark outside and started feeling a little bad. He knew that spending three hours in a ramen stand was not Sakura's idea of a good time. He suddenly started to feel guilty for sitting in the stand for so long. Truthfully, he could definitely eat more Ichiraku's. He couldn't be entirely sure that the ramen stand would survive the pending battle so he wanted to eat as much as he could while he knows it will be around.

Naruto sat down his half-eaten bowl and smiled at his fiancé. "Nah, I'm stuffed Sakura-chan!" He lied. "Ready to go?"

He watched as her smile transformed into a real one and her posture instantly relaxed.

"Yup, don't forget to pay the bill!" Sakura grimaced when she thought of what the price was going to be for Naruto's bill. Tsunade had paid them both fairly well for their training mission, but neither of them had a chance to get a steady income since returning. She had considered going back to work at the hospital, but with Kabuto marching towards Konoha she decided to spend as much time as she could with Naruto.

"Nah, no need. It's on the house." Teuchi announced with a warm smile.

"WHAT? Old man I ate a LOT of ramen. You'll lose a lot of money if you give it all to me for free!"

Teuchi chuckled at the surprised young man in front of him. He noticed that Sakura was staring at him as if he was the savior of this world.

"Consider it a thanks for being my favorite and most loyal customer over the years Naruto."

"But…"

"But nothing. I know you'll come for more ramen after you've led our forces to victory."

"But…"

"Thank you very much Teuchi-san." Sakura interrupted. She decided that now she really would have Teuchi cater her and Naruto's wedding. It was the least she could do.

"Let's go Naruto." Sakura grabbed Naruto's hand and started pulling him out of the ramen stand.

"Thanks old man!" Naruto yelled over his shoulder as Sakura led him to the street.

The two walked towards their house in silence, both marveling in the beauty that was the night sky.

"Hey… Sakura?"

"Hmm? What is it Naruto?"

"Thanks. I know you must've hated being the ramen stand for so long. So thanks."

Sakura smiled sweetly at Naruto. "And I know you didn't enjoy shopping with Ino and me today. So I'd say we're even."

"Nah, it wasn't **that** bad."

Sakura chuckled. "Oh? So would you like to go shopping with Ino and me again tomorrow?"

"AGAIN?" Naruto gasped. "I mean… erm…"

Sakura stopped her fiancé's stammering by pressing her lips softly against his whiskered cheek.

"Relax, I was just kidding."

Naruto sighed in relief and followed Sakura as they approached their apartment. He smiled. Today with Sakura he had not once thought about the coming battle, and his eventual showdown with Madara. He had been completely stress free. He was too busy enjoying his time with his fiancé to worry about that.

Sakura guided him into their apartment and Naruto mentally thanked kami for putting his emerald-eyed angel into his life.

* * *

The following morning found a similar group in the Hokage's office as had been there yesterday, except this time Hinata Hyuga was present instead of Neji Hyuga. Ino's eyes were closed in concentration, and Chouji was watching her carefully, ready to catch her the second she starts to fall.

Shikamaru was both fascinated and horrified as he watched the edo-tensei at work. He spotted some of the most powerful shinobi from the past amongst Kabuto's army. And he watched time after time as the edo-tensei repaired the body of the revived shinobi, rendering the attack that the Konoha nin hit it with completely useless.

The lazy genius took in each and every single detail of the revived shinobi. His eyes scanned for some sort of sign, maybe a second of hesitation, a small twitch of the hand… Anything. But as he feared, Shikamaru could find no weakness in the edo-tensei. He had only been viewing Hinata's memories for 11 minutes, but he had seen everything he needed to, so it made no sense for Ino to completely exhaust herself like she did yesterday.

"That's enough Ino, thank you."

"Well?" Tsunade asked.

"For whatever reason, Madara told you the truth. The edo-tensei is a truly terrifying technique. I could find no weakness in it, and there didn't seem to be a single threat to the user. It's just an advanced summoning technique. Kabuto definitely needs a sacrifice for each shinobi he revives though."

"So for each of those shinobi he is commanding…" Ino started as a look of disgust and horror made its way onto her face.

"He killed someone else. Each shinobi that Kabuto revived symbolizes a life he took."

"So the only way we're going to save Konoha and stop Kabuto is if a Nara or Yamanka can force him to drop the technique, or trick him with a genjutsu?" Tsunade asked.

Shikamaru sighed. "As troublesome as it is, yes. That's the only way I could find."

"What I don't understand is why Madara would tell us all of this…" Shikaku spoke up.

"That thought crossed my mind as well." Shikamaru admitted. "I was actually kind of hoping to find some sort of sign that he was lying, it would've been easier that way. But now we have to figure out why he would betray Kabuto, when he should be strong enough to kill Kabuto himself."

"Maybe Kabuto threatened to send his edo-tensei army after Madara. Even Madara couldn't defeat an entire army of the most powerful shinobi to ever walk the earth." Chouji reasoned.

"No… He couldn't beat them all at once, but over time, he could easily suck all the revived shinobi into another dimension. Kabuto has to have something else on him…" Shikamaru stated.

"But what could he have over someone as powerful as Madara?" Shikaku asked.

"Well, that doesn't really matter right now, does it?" Kakashi's voice rang into the room, and the room's occupants looked to the window to see the famous copy nin leaning against the window as his face was buried in his little orange book.

"What do you mean? Of course it matters!" Ino sputtered. "Madara is the real threat, not Kabuto!"

"Madara is certainly a bigger threat, but Kabuto is the more imminent threat. If we don't deal with Kabuto, Konoha will be destroyed." The copy nin explained.

Ino opened her mouth to retort, but was cut off by Shikamaru.

"Kakashi's right. We need to worry about dealing with Kabuto first before thinking about Madara."

"But if Kabuto has something on Madara…" Ino tried to start.

"Then we'll find out what it is. I have no intentions of killing Kabuto, he has far too much valuable information. We're simply going to force him to drop his jutsu and then capture him.

* * *

After the meeting, Shikamaru went and found Temari and walked around Konoha with her. They spent the first ten minutes of their walk or so talking about nothing before Temari turned to her forced boyfriend with a serious look in her eyes.

"So what did you figure out?"

"You'll find out at the strategy meeting tonight." Shikamaru answered. His eyebrows furrowed as he was reminded of the upcoming battle. A battle which his strategies would be depended on. Temari's presence had been a welcome distraction and he had managed to not think about the battle for a little bit. He found it troublesome that Temari could have such an effect on him, but he welcomed it nonetheless. He had to admit it's nice not to be worrying about a battle that would not only decide the fate of his village, but likely the fate of the world as well. At least… it **was** nice not worrying.

"What? Come on, tell me!" Temari ordered. "I'm your girlfriend, I deserve to know!"

"Temari…" Shikamaru groaned. "Please can we not talk about that right now? You'll be filled in tonight, just as the rest of our forces will be. I've come up with a pretty solid strategy that should work. But right now I don't want to think about Kabuto or his undead army… It's too…"

"Troublesome?" Temari smirked. Being a genius herself, she figured out quickly why Shikamaru didn't want to talk about it. She hadn't noticed it earlier, but he relaxed when he was in her presence. He truly relaxed. His face wasn't furrowed in thought, his posture was relaxed… It wasn't until she just watched his body language change to that of a stressed individual that she realized the only time she had seen him truly relaxed was when he was just with her.

She was flattered and touched that she had such an effect on him, and decided that she would distract him just a little longer.

"Stealing my word now eh?" Shikamaru questioned with a grateful smile. Being a genius himself, he understood what Temari was doing.

"It's not your word, it's your family's word! And I figure since I'll be a part of your family one day…"

That took Shikamaru's mind away from worrying about the war as his eyes bulged out of his skull in surprise.

"You…what?"

"Well obviously we're going to get married eventually Shikamaru!" Temari said with a domineering grin that told the lazy genius he didn't have much of a choice in the matter.

"But we live in different villages…"

"Our two villages are so close that it won't be that big of a deal for one of us to move. Especially once Naruto becomes hokage. That baka will probably try to build some sort of underground tunnel between our village or something." Temari left out the fact that Naruto actually sent a letter to Gaara telling him what a great idea it would be to build an underground tunnel connecting Konoha and Suna and told Gaara that as soon as he became hokage he would get started on construction, and then he told Gaara that he better get started with construction on his end, as Naruto didn't want to have to do all the digging by himself.

"So you're expecting me to move to Suna then?"

Temari raised her eyebrow in surprise. She expected a lot more grumbling from Shikamaru about her announcement. "No, I couldn't do that to your village. With Naruto as your next hokage he's going to need you around to keep him from making some rash decision that destroys the entire world." Temari joked.

This time it was Shikamaru's turn to raise an eyebrow in surprise. "You would move to Konoha?"

Temari smiled at him. "Of course. I love Suna, but living in a desert can get a little old. And we would still visit…often."

Shikamaru simply smiled at the bossy woman who had made him her boyfriend, and now sort of made him her fiancé as well… _So this is why dad married mom…_

* * *

Tsunade sat in her office with a large grin on her face as she read over a letter she had just received moments ago. Another similar letter lay open on her desk.

"Tsunade-sama?" Shizune asked cautiously.

"Shizune, get Shikamaru here right now. I have some information here that might alter his plans.

* * *

The stars twinkled in the night sky outside of the window of the large makeshift war room. Shinobi from Konoha, Kiri and Suna were gathered in the room, looking at Shikamaru with expectant looks on their faces.

"Alright, listen up, the edo–tensei is a nearly invincible technique."

The individuals in the room instantly began murmuring their displeasure at Shikamaru's opening comment, but before they could say much, one of Konoha's most powerful shinobi stood up and brought everyone back to order.

"Everyone listen up! Shikamaru is pretty smart. There's no way we'll lose with whatever strategy he devised... Believe it!"

Everyone in the room who knew Naruto stared at him dumbfounded. It typically wasn't Naruto's style to sit and listen to a plan. Sure he had gotten a bit better at planning during his time with Sakura, but he was still a charge first and figure things out later kind of guy.

"Umm… ya. Right. Thanks Naruto." Shikamaru muttered. "As I was saying, the edo-tensei is a nearly invincible technique. The shinobi revived by this technique will automatically regenerate from any wounds we give them, and there is no consequence to Kabuto for using the technique."

More murmuring arose in the room, but it instantly died down when Naruto turned around and gave the gathered shinobi a warning look, again surprising everyone who knew him.

"The only way to stop the edo-tensei is to get Kabuto to drop the technique. To do this, we'll either have to fool him with a genjutsu, or we could use my family or the Yamanka family's clan techniques. And I plan just to do that. The Konoha army will engage Kabuto's army head on in front of the village gates. My father will serve as commander of the Konoha forces."

"Shikamaru-san, I mean no offense, but wouldn't it make sense for Hokage-sama to lead our forces?" Lee asked with a confused look on his face.

"I'm getting to that Lee. Now… to our knowledge Kabuto still doesn't know that Suna and Kiri have arrived in our village. We're going to use that to our advantage. Suna forces will burrow underground to the east of the battlefield, and Kiri forces will burrow underground to the west of the battlefield. When the Konoha commander gives the signal, your forces will burst from the ground and catch the revived shinobi off guard. Suna has a couple of shinobi who can use cloth binding to bind revived shinobi which will take them out of the fight. Gaara, you will be the commander of your forces, and Mei, you will be the commander of yours."

"But what about…"

"When we lose the momentum gained from Suna and Kiri's sudden joining of the battle…" Shikamaru went on, ignoring Lee's question. "That's when we'll use our trump card. Again, the Konoha commander will give the signal. Once he gives the signal, forces from Kumo and Iwa will attack the rear of Kabuto's forces, and we will have them pinned in on all sides."

"Kumo and Iwa forces?" Mei asked.

"We just found out today that both Kumo and Iwa are coming to join us in this battle. They are tailing Kabuto's army at a safe distance and I have told them to attack once they see the signal."

"But what about…" Lee tried again.

"I was just getting to that Lee. Since the only way to stop the edo-tensei army is to force Kabuto to drop the technique, we need to get to him as quickly as possible. Even with the surprise gained by Kumo and Iwa assaulting the back of Kabuto's forces, we would still eventually be worn down by the edo-tensei and be defeated. That's why I've put together a strike team that is going to take out Kabuto.

"A strike team?"

"Yes. This team needs to consist of individuals who know Kabuto well, and know his fighting style. The strike team shall consist of myself, Naruto Uzumaki, Sakura Haruno, Kakashi Hatake, The Hokage, Ino Yamanka, Sai and Chouji Akamichi. I will first try to use my clan's technique to make Kabuto to drop the edo-tensei as Ino will risk running into Orochimaru if she enters Kabuto's mind. She will be going as backup in case I fail."

"But what about…"

Shikamaru sighed at Lee's constant barrage of questions. "Chouji is going because he is a apart of Ino and my's team and the three of us work very well together. Naruto and Sakura are going because they are quite possibly the two most powerful shinobi we have, and both are very familiar with Kabuto. Hokage-sama is also going because of her familiarity with Kabuto. Kakashi and Sai are both going because Naruto and Sakura work so well with them, and Kakashi is able to devise good strategies on the fly, so he can lead a group should or strike force be split up."

"Why didn't you include any of my or Kazekage-sama's shinobi on our strike force?" Mei questioned.

"Because the strike force isn't going to wait for any signals. Our goal is to get to Kabuto as quickly as possible and we are going to go after him the very second this battle starts. If he noticed a Suna or Kirin in on the strike force, our element of surprise would be lost." Shikamaru explained.

"Why not wait for Kumo and Iwa's attack before going after Kabuto?" Gaara asked.

"Because that will take too long. Even if he's being assaulted from all sides, Kabuto still has enough power in his army to protect himself. The strike force is going to take advantage of the chaos caused by the sudden arrival of each new army to get closer to Kabuto."

Everyone in the room nodded their head in understanding, and those who didn't know Shikamaru before found themselves with a healthy dose of respect for the lazy genius.

* * *

Woooo! An extra long chapter. The fun starts next chapter! I'm so excited!


	9. All In

Hey look, I didn't forget about this story, it's a new chapter! I really am not overly thrilled with this taking me over a month to update... but what're ya gonna do. Anyway, WAR IS UPON US and we're getting closer and closer to the battle that I've been looking forward to writing since the start of this story! Woohoo! Obviously the story won't be ending next chapter. I figure there's probably two more war chapters left, then one follow up/bridge chapter to the third and final part of this series.

Thanks to all who have reviewed/favorited/alerted my this story so far!

A special thanks and shout out to everyone who reviewed since last time: DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles, Toasty Warrior, stryker4narusaku, ZeroTail29, Echo Uchiha, saveme57, The silver wolf jinchuriki, Blazing CobaltX, Otaku Overlord, wingedmercury, Nightwind, Nutt Man 117, Shandrial, panda-kun

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**DOOOOOOM Lord of Waffles: **Glad you liked it! And thanks for pointing out my slip-up! Iwa not Oto!**  
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**Toasty Warrior: **Thanks =) It was fun writing the NaruSaku scenes this chapter (what a surprise!) And that Shikamaru is a pretty smart guy, I am keeping my finger's crossed that the plan works out for him!**  
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**stryker4narusaku: **Here here! =P**  
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**ZeroTail29: **I see. Well I already discussed my reasoning in my response to your last review, so I won't go broken record on you =) Although I'm curious how Naruto's peers disrespect him? That is quite far from my intentions. If you do happen to glance at this, it's fighting scenes from here on out... Well the last chapter won't be a fighting scene. But it's also the segway into the final part of this series so it will be too busy setting that up to really include any situations like these =) Anyways, thanks for reading and reviewing. I appreciate each review you gave and I truly appreciate your honesty!**  
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**Echo Uchiha: **=)**  
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**saveme57: **I couldn't think of a more perfect way for a guy as lazy as Shikamaru to get a girlfriend =P And I agree- Naruto would definitely be all for tunnels connecting all the villages, preferably littered with ramen stands... Glad you liked the chapter =)**  
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**The silver wolf jinchuriki: **Ah well actually you can! Fukasaku always referred to Jiraiya as "Jiraiya-chan" which roughly translates to Jiraiya-boy. From what I've been able to dig up, it's quite acceptable and not entirely uncommon to refer to little boys as chan =)**  
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**Blazing CobaltX: **Glad you enjoyed it =)**  
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**Otaku Overlord: **Hehe, poor Shikaku =P I mean, yay for Shikaku getting a potential daughter-in-law and all, but if only he had his son's luck when he was younger! And I'm not sure if Shikamaru even knows that Temari is his fiance yet... if they even are =P I hope you enjoy this chapter!**  
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**wingedmercury: **Ah thank you thank you =) I'm glad you enjoyed the chapters! And I just can't imagine Naruto getting married without Ichiraku's somehow being involved =P Also, the harder I work at my job the earlier I retire...hopefully =P **  
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**Nightwind: **Thanks for the high praise =) I hope this chapter is up to par! Sorry the next chapter didn't get up so soon... My fingers are always crossed I can get the next chapter out quicker!**  
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**Nutt Man 117:**When isn't Naruto obsessed with ramen? =P Glad you enjoyed that little scene, it made me giggle a little as I was writing it. Yes, I will freely admit that I giggled. I'm not ashamed. Enjoy this chapter!

**Shandrial: **You're not alone! So did Naruto and Shikamaru =P And thanks for the praise on Temari. She's got a lot of spunk which makes her a fun character to write =) Funny thing about the slight Jiraiya mention- I originally typed it in more as a joke to myself, fully intending to remove it once I completed the chapter. But as I was going through and editing it, I couldn't bring myself to take it out. So I'm glad you enjoyed it =) I hope you enjoy this (and the following) chapters! **  
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** panda-kun: **EEP! I can't believe I did that! Thanks for pointing that out! Thanks for the praise, and I'm glad you're enjoying the story so far. I hope you enjoy this chapter as well =)

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Standard disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Sai would not have interrupted Sakura when she was trying to feed Naruto after his fight with Kakazu! Not cool Sai, not cool!

Alrighty, I think over a month is way too long of a wait. Let's get onto the chapter eh? Please do enjoy, _A Jinchuriki's Strength_- Chapter 9: All In

* * *

Far too soon for the allied forces liking, the day had finally arrived for the battle with Kabuto. By Shikamaru's calculations, the barrier that had been holding Kabuto and his army of zombies off would be cracking within the hour.

An army of Konoha nin stood outside the village gate with stony faces, all mentally preparing themselves for the horrors that they would be witnessing on the battlefield, and all making sure they had made their peace, as they knew very well this could be their last day among the living.

Behind the Konoha army stood the small task force that was put together to get to Kabuto and take him out as quickly as possible. Naruto and Sakura calmly watched the barrier in the distance with their hands clasped tightly together.

Tsunade observed her ninjas with an impassive mask. She was proud of the courage they were showing by standing so calmly against a nearly invincible army, and she was trying her best not to think about all the lives that would be lost today. The absolute worst part of being the Hokage was having the blood of each and every ninja you ordered to go on a mission on your hands. She knew that after today, her hands were going to be much more stained with Konoha blood.

Ino was leaning slightly into Chouji as the two waited for the barrier to break- something that did not go unnoticed by Shikamaru. The lazy nin had suspicions that the two had been getting closer than just teammates over the last couple of days, but hadn't had a chance to ask them about it. Now he found himself hoping he would be able to confirm his suspicions with them after this battle was finished.

Sai was the very image of a perfect shinobi. He stood in a somewhat relaxed stance, yet each of his muscles was tensed and he was prepared to leap into action the very second any sort of threat arose. His face was a perfect mask of calm confidence.

Kakashi, to the entire strike team's surprise, did not have his little orange book out while they waited. Instead he stood patiently waiting for Kabuto and his army to break though. He was focused like he had never been focused before. He had made a promise that he would not let any of his precious people die in this fight, and he intended to keep it.

A Konoha ANBU appeared in a puff of smoke directly in front of Shikamaru, drawing the strike team's attention.

"Shikamaru-san, Suna and Kiri forces are in place, and the Iwa and Kumo forces are as well."

Shikamaru nodded. "Good, this plan should work then. Now we just have to wait to see what variables Kabuto throws at us on the battlefield that could affect it."

The ANBU said nothing and disappeared in another puff of smoke.

Naruto took the moment to glance over his shoulder at the village gates. Genin were stationed along the walls as the absolute last line of defense. The jinchuriki could see the fear in their eyes; even the ones who were trying to put on a brave facade were still unable to completely hide their fear. Naruto was glad that Tsunade had ordered the genin to stay away from the front lines, they were definitely not ready for this type of battle.

_I have to make sure that not a single one of Kabuto's army makes it past us and to the genin. But it's going to be tough since I'm just barreling straight through his army towards Kabuto…_ Naruto thought worriedly.

He felt Sakura squeeze his hand and he looked into her emerald eyes. "You're worried about the genin right?"

Naruto smiled and nodded his head; leave it to Sakura to be able to know exactly what he was thinking about.

"I'm worried too, but if we do our job, we can stop Kabuto before any of his army has a chance to make it to them…and we **will** do our job."

Naruto gave his fiance's hand a grateful squeeze.

"I don't think the barrier is going to last much longer." Shikamaru's calm voice rang out. "Do you all remember the plan?"

"We're going to drill straight through Kabuto's army." Ino answered. "Naruto is going to take point with Sakura directly behind him. Kakashi will be on the left side, and Tsunade will be on the right. You and I Shikamaru, will be directly behind Sakura, while Chouji and Sai protect our flank."

"That's right. We will move as one entity. Got that Naruto? We're going to need you to barrel forward, but you also have to make sure that the rest of the team is keeping up with you."

"I know Shikamaru." Naruto replied.

"Now then, Sakura will switch with anyone protecting Ino and myself if they need a break." Sakura nodded in understanding.

"As soon as our forces engage Kabuto's we will charge directly through the middle of our forces and spear our way into Kabuto's. He won't be expecting such a sudden change in pace so early in the fight, and we should be able to use that small amount of surprise to penetrate his army's lines."

In the _distance_ the barrier flickered as one of Kabuto's minions attacked it.

"Sakura-chan…" Naruto whispered.

"I know Naruto." Sakura replied. "I love you too."

"That's not what I was going to say." Naruto retorted with a grin causing Sakura to quirk her eyebrow at him.

"I was just going to say how I can't wait to get married to you after all this is over." Sakura couldn't help but let out a small chuckle. Leave it to Naruto to break the tension of what promises to be the most dangerous battle she's ever been involved in.

"I couldn't agree with you more Naruto."

Naruto opened his mouth to reply but he was interrupted by Shikaku's voice.

"HERE THEY COME!" Naruto looked up just in time to see the barrier shatter. _This is it… I can do this. I will do this. _ The jinchuriki closed his eyes and took a calming breath. His red sage cloak rustled in the wind. When he reopened his eyes they were no longer sapphire, instead they were the yellow eyes of a toad.

"LET'S DO THIS!" Naruto roared. The Konoha forces heard his cry and felt a fresh wave of energy pour through their bodies. Naruto's battle roar was filled with strength, confidence and determination. They let out their own battle cries as Kabuto's army ran towards them.

War was finally upon Konoha.

* * *

Kabuto watched as his undead minions surged forward. He heard Naruto's voice ring through the air, and soon the rest of the Konoha forces voices joined his. _Naruto-kun is so good at inspiring people. First he inspired me, now he is inspiring his people. Unfortunately for him, all of the inspiration in the world won't save Konoha. By the end of this day, Konoha and all of its people will be nothing more than a memory._

The scaled man flicked his eyes to the personal guardians he had selected to stay behind. Each was a very powerful ninja, and each would have a great impact on the battle if he sent them to the front lines. But Kabuto was a careful man, Konoha had many clever minds. He knew better than to underestimate them. These shinobi would ensure that his plans succeed. These shinobi would ensure that no matter what plot Konoha concocts, it would fail. These shinobi were shinobi that Konoha's most powerful wouldn't be able to fight.

Kabuto smiled. Today was going to be a great day.

* * *

Neji ducked under and undead shinobi's thrust and quickly cut off its major tenketsu points before sending it crashing into another one with a powerful roundhouse kick. He had learned a lot from his battle with Naruto and Sakura. He knew that his byakugan wasn't invincible and could be fooled. He knew that while it was a very useful tool, he shouldn't rely solely on it.

Neji had spent the week training his instincts without the byakugan and his reaction time had never been greater. He felt two of Kabuto's shinobi closing in on him from both sides. Not missing a beat, Neji closed his eyes and calmly called out two words his clan had become famous for.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!" Neji spun rapidly expelling chakra from each tenketsu point on his body repelling the two attacking shinobi backwards.

"Clear the way!" Neji heard Shikaku Nara yell. He looked behind him to see Naruto leading the special strike team forward with a rasengan in each hand and a deadly and determined look in his toad-like eyes. He jumped to the side and watched as Naruto thrust his rasengans into two different revived shinobi who got in his way. More charged towards him but he batted them away with his sage enhanced strength.

_Whoever would've thought that the brash little loud mouth kid I fought in the chunin exams all this years ago would turn into you Naruto…_ Neji thought with a small amount of pride for his friend.

"You shouldn't let your guard down Neji!" A voice suddenly yelled in his ear. It was a voice that Neji recognized all too well. He flipped forward into the air and landed a few feet away from where he had been standing. His eyes were wide with both surprise and horror when his eyes confirmed what his ears had already heard. He quickly calmed himself down.

"Hello… father." Neji calmly greeted as he turned his face into an emotionless mask.

* * *

Naruto really didn't even need to use his eyes as he rushed forward. He could feel the fluctuations in chakra with his heightened senses in sage mode as he batted away attackers with rasengans and frog kumite strikes while leading his team forward.

He slowed down as he felt Kakashi struggle with a particular ninja. He heard Sakura mutter something and suddenly the ninja that Kakashi was struggling with looked around in surprise as Sakura's genjutsu took effect. Kakashi used the opportunity to use the headhunter technique on it and resumed his running.

Naruto caught the arm of one of Kabuto's zombies that was intending to catch him off guard with a lightning chakra imbued kunai and hurled the offending undead shinobi into a group of other revived shinobi, knocking all of them down.

"Have you found Kabuto's chakra yet Naruto?" Shikamaru asked from behind him. Naruto felt the earth tremor as Tsunade slammed her foot into the ground creating a rift that swallowed another of Kabuto's shinobi.

"Yea, he's that way. But if we keep slowing down like we are, it's going to be a while until we reach him." Naruto ducked as a water bullet whizzed over his head. He looked towards the ninja who shot the bullet at him and cursed. The man was too far away. Most of Naruto's long range jutsus used up more chakra than he could risk using at this moment.

"Sakura, do you mind?"

"Of course. Suiton: Teppodama!" Sakura shot a water bullet of her own at the undead shinobi which caught it off guard and knocked it to the ground."

"Shikamaru…" Chouji grunted as he used an enlarged hand to bat away an undead shinobi. "We can't keep pressing forward like this; they're surrounding us on all sides. We need to fall back to our forces."

"Just hang on a bit more. Once my father sends the signal we'll be able to push much deeper into Kabuto's army."

"I hope your father sends the signal soon." Ino said worriedly as she watched Sai narrowly avoid a kunai aimed at his throat. The pale artist sent some ink snakes toward the zombie to restrain it.

"I do too…" Shikamaru muttered.

* * *

Shikaku dodged a fireball fired by an undead Konoha nin. _That was a powerful fireball… This guy is going to be tough._

"DYNAMIC ENTRY!" Gai's foot appeared out of seemingly nowhere and planted itself in the former Konoha nin's face. The force of Gai's kick sent the zombie skidding across the ground.

"Commander Nara, are you ok?" Gai yelled in his normal overenthusiastic voice.

"I'm fine Gai, thanks for the assist."

"The front lines are no place for the commander of an army." Gai suddenly spoke in a completely serious voice.

Shikaku chuckled. Most people only saw Gai as a crazy and overenthusiastic person, but when he needed to be, Gai could be extremely serious and deadly.

"You're right. I'll leave this to you then." Shikaku jumped backwards to take a look at the Konoha forces as Gai caught another one of Kabuto's zombies in the face with a right hook.

_Hmmm… our momentum is certainly slowing._ Shikaku mused as he observed his forces. _Looks like it's time to bring in the first wave of allies._

Shikaku took out a small scroll and placed it face down on the ground. He poured chakra into the scroll and watched as it released a quick surge of bright blue energy into the ground.

_Now to wait…_ Shukaku didn't have to wait long, as in 30 seconds a giant wave of sand exploded from the ground from the east of the battlefield, and a wave of magma erupted from the ground to the west.

* * *

Gaara was getting restless as he waited. _Every second I sit under here waiting is another second someone precious to me can die… _The rock around him and his army suddenly surged with a blue energy. _Finally…_

Gaara offered no words to his forces, instead he sent a massive wave of sand through the earth and crushed four of Kabuto's revived shinobi in it.

"Finally!" Temari yelled as the Suna forces rushed forward with fierce cries. She hit the surface and her eyes instantly searched for her boyfriend's team. She knew she couldn't go and help them; it wasn't her job in this fight. But she still wanted to at least locate them so she could keep an eye on their progress.

"Temari focus!" Gaara ordered as he used a wave of sand to trap an undead shinobi that was intent on ending his sister's life. "Shikamaru will be fine, he's with Naruto."

Temari felt a little embarrassed about not just being caught unfocused by her little brother, but also being saved by him as well.

"RIGHT!" She grabbed the fan off her back and shot a blast of deadly wind at a shinobi that was creeping behind Gaara. She knew his absolute defense would've protected him had she not intervened, but that didn't stop her from grinning.

"Now we're even!"

Gaara allowed a rare smile as he directed more sand to capture and crush Kabuto's army.

* * *

Mei stood patiently in the tunnel her forces had crafted as she waited for the signal to join the battle. Choujuro stood nervously by her side and Ao stood by his side.

"Choujuro don't be nervous." Mei said with a gentle smile to the young boy. "I know you'll do great out there."

"I umm… of course Mizukage-sama. Thank you."

"Choujuro you're about to enter war. You can't let yourself be whittled away by fear or you will never defeat any enemies and will be remembered as a failure forever."

_Can't win any men over?_ Mei thinks as a dark look overtakes her face. Mei suddenly puts her mouth over Ao's ear with a fake smile.

"Shut up…or I'll kill you."

Ao's eyes open wide, but he's saved from having to respond as the rock surrounding them lights up with a blue glow.

"Alright everyone," Mei calls. "It's time!" She turns her mouth upwards and shoots a giant stream of magma out of the rock.

* * *

Kabuto cursed as Suna and Kiri forces joined the battle out of seemingly nowhere. Konoha had been full of nothing but surprises so far in the battle. The scaled man had never expected a small force of some of Konoha's most powerful shinobi to charge straight through his army and directly at him. It was a risky move, but with enough momentum he knew that the group could reach him. And with Naruto leading the charge, their chances of reaching him were that much better.

He had just started slowing down Naruto's group and was starting to turn things in his favor when Suna and Kiri forces shot out of the ground to join the battle. That threw his army in disarray which allowed for Naruto's group to push even further towards him.

_It's no matter…_ He reassured himself. _Even with Suna and Kiri they can't stop the edo-tensei. And I still hold my trump cards. Naruto and his team won't be able to make it to me._

Kabuto turned towards a man with spiky black hair and a black goatee to match. "Go stop the group that is headed this way."

The man sighed. "I hope you guys are ready for this…" He muttered under his breath as his body followed Kabuto's command.

* * *

Neji ducked underneath his father's jab and used the momentary opening his father left open to close three tenketsus on his father's left arm. Before his father could react, Neji started spinning.

"Hakkesho Kaiten!" Neji's rotation blasted his father backwards. Before his father could properly regain his footing, Neji pinpointed his vital points and released a high-speed palm thrust.

"Hakke Kusho!" Neji yelled. The vacuum thrust from his hand struck into his father's body causing the undead Hyuga to crumple down to the ground.

Neji quickly flickered over his father's fallen body.

"Hakke Rokujuyon Sho!" Neji quickly strikes his father's body repeatedly with the gentle fist, cutting off 64 of his tenketsu points, and rendering him unable to move.

"You've learned the Eight Trigrams: 64 Palms and the Heavenly Spin…" His father mused. "Amazing."

"Thank you father." Neji replied somberly. He knew with his dad defeated, he should focus on the rest of the fight, but he couldn't bring himself to just yet.

"But…" To Neji's surprise, his undead dad started standing up. "They're not enough against Kabuto's technique son. You're going to need some sort of sealing or binding ability if you're going to stop me."

_The edo-tensei heals the revived shinobi that quickly? Father shouldn't be able to move for at least another 30 minutes…_

His father suddenly flickered and pulled his hand back intending to strike Neji's heart with his gentle fist.

"Juuho Shouriken!" A soft, yet powerful voice rings out. Hinata flickered to Neji's side and struck her undead uncle with her twin lion fists sending the revived man skidding across the ground.

"Hinata?" Neji gasped before letting a small smile take over his features. He never would have guessed a couple of years ago that Hinata would ever save him.

"I know fighting Uncle must be hard on you Neji… we'll do this together. Kiba will join us once he finishes up with his opponent, and my father is on his way with someone who can bind him."

"Be careful Hinata, our gentle fist attacks won't keep them stunned for very long thanks to the edo-tensei."

"I know." Hinata replied. "But we're both strong now. We can do this."

"Hinata? My you've grown up to be a beautiful woman. And that was a very impressive attack you developed."

"Thank you Uncle Hizashi." Hinata curtly replied.

"So you two are going to be fighting me now… Well then, get ready because here I come!"

Neji and Hinata nodded to each other as they prepared themselves for the undead Hyuga's onslaught.

* * *

_At the pace we're going, we might be able to reach Kabuto without the distraction that Iwa and Kumo will provide when they join the fight…_ Shikamaru mused as he watched Naruto barrel through enemy zombies.

"Futon: Fujin no Jutsu" A familiar voice yelled.

_Shit!_ Shikamaru swore as he used his shadow possession jutsu to force Naruto's body to duck just in time as the powerful dust cloud blasted over his head.

Shikamaru looked in the direction the attack had come from, and felt his very heart clench as he made eye contact with his deceased sensei.

"Asuma-sensei?" Ino gasped.

"Very good Shikamaru. Had you not reacted as quickly Naruto would've taken some serious damage there." Asuma complimented. "It's nice to see all of you again… I just wish this could be under different circumstances."

"Everyone… leave Asuma to Ino, Chouji and me." Shikamaru ordered calmly.

"WHAT?" Naruto gasped as he turned to give his a friend an incredulous look. "But what happened to moving as one entity?"

"Asuma-sensei is a powerful opponent, and will give anyone who faces him serious troubles. But Ino, Chouji and I know how he fights and how he thinks. We are the best possible team to deal with him."

"Why don't you let us back you up then Shikamaru?" Kakashi suggested.

"We can't afford it; we need to continue putting pressure on Kabuto. If Asuma stalls our entire task force here, Kabuto will take our momentum from us and that could prove disastrous for our forces."

"You and Ino are this task force's first two options of forcing Kabuto to drop the edo-tensei." Tsunade pointed out.

"Both Kakashi and Sakura are talented with genjutsus. It will fall on one of them to use a genjutsu to trick Kabuto into dropping the edo-tensei."

"That's a lot more difficult than both you and Ino's jutsus." Sai pointed out. "Why don't I stay behind and either you or Ino continue with the task force?"

"You don't know Asuma-sensei's fighting style. The three of us are going to be needed if we want to take care of him somewhat quickly. Even if you can't get Kabuto to drop the edo-tensei, just engaging him should distract him somewhat and buy us time to rejoin you."

"I don't like this…" Naruto growled. "How the hell are you guys going to fight your way to Kabuto after this?"

"We'll manage." Shikamaru replied with a smirk.

"But…"

"Naruto this is the best plan." Sakura interrupted as she gently squeezed his shoulder.

"I swear to god if any of you three die… I'm going to be pissed." Naruto sighed.

Ino chuckled. "And miss my best friend's wedding? I wouldn't dream of it Naruto!"

"Alright then. Sakura you're in the middle now and the rest of us will remain in our positions." Kakashi spoke up. "Let's move out Naruto."

"Good luck guys." Naruto muttered before running off towards Kabuto.

"I have no doubt the three of you can defeat me now." Asuma boasted with a proud smile as he stared at his former students. "But Shikamaru, this technique is unreal. I hope you have a plan to combat it."

Shikamaru smirked and withdrew a small scroll and tossed it up into the air. The scroll suddenly exploded in a burst of green light.

"Of course I do." Shikamaru calmed himself down and prepared himself to take down his sensei. He looked at his teammates, Ino was preparing herself just as he was, but Chouji stood rooted to the spot, trembling in fear.

"Tch, troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as an undead Kumo nin bore down on the petrified Chouji. Shikamaru quickly took possession of Chouji's body and leapt to the side causing his friend to dodge the attack.

Ino quickly put her hands in the oval shape that made her clan famous. "Shintenshin no Jutsu" The undead nin was caught off guard at Chouji's last second dodge, and was unable to dodge Ino's possession.

Now in control of the zombie's body, Ino hurled 'herself' at Asuma who dispatched it with a powerful roundhouse kick just as Ino left its body.

"Very good Ino! Using one enemy's strength to take out your other enemies." Asuma complimented.

"Get a grip Chouji!" Shikamaru yelled.

"I can't… I can't fight Asuma-sensei." Chouji muttered as he squeezed his eyes tightly shut.

"Chouji…"

"Yes you can Chouji!" Asuma urged. "Be confident in yourself, you three can beat me."

Chouji opened his eyes and clenched his fists together as he took in his master's words of encouragement.

"Right… Let's do this Shikamaru, Ino."

* * *

Naruto felt an enemy nin approaching him, but could also hear Sakura preparing a genjutsu so he didn't even bother reacting as he continued to bolt forward. As he expected, the zombie that had been intent on taking him out was now charging away from the battlefield chasing what Naruto guessed would be an illusion of the remaining members of the strike force.

He felt Sai lagging behind as the artist had to deal with a fairly powerful revived shinobi from Suna. Naruto swore and slowed down, every time he was forced to slow down, the enemy had more of a chance to swarm him and his team.

_We need the next round of reinforcements soon…_Naruto thought as Sai drew a large ink bird which grabbed his foe with it talons and flew off.

"Damnit…" Naruto muttered. He could feel Kabuto's chakra… They were so close.

Naruto ducked just in time to a strike from an undead kunoichi's hand. Before he could react, Sakura reached over him and grabbed the offending kunoichi's arm, and then used her considerable strength to hurl the kunoichi far away from the battlefield.

"Naruto we need to keep pressing forward." Tsunade urged.

"I know that Baa-chan!" Naruto mumbled as more and more of Kabuto's undead puppets started surrounding them.

* * *

Shikaku stood at the top of the village gates as he surveyed the battle. The allied forces still had the momentum from Suna and Kiri's sudden appearance in the battle. One thing that troubled him though was the fact that he didn't see bodies flying around deeper into Kabuto's army.

Before he could watch a fairly steady path being cut through by the strike force, but now he couldn't tell where they were. He was tempted to call in Iwa and Kumo's reinforcements, but it just didn't make sense yet. Those reinforcements were their final trump card, he couldn't call them in while the rest of the allied forces were doing so well.

A flash of green caught his eye and he noticed Gai's young student Lee taking on the Akatsuki member that was the partner of Hidan, the man who killed his son's master. Lee seemed to be taking on Kakuzu by himself while one of his teammates, Tenten along with Yamato and Konohamaru were facing off against the thread-like monsters Kakuzu created. He wasn't sure how Konohamaru got out on the battlefield, considering the Hokage ordered the Genin to stay within the village, but seeing as Konohamaru received some training from Naruto and was fighting with strong allies, Shikaku decided to let him fight this time.

It still was so strange for Shikaku to see the younger generation on the front lines. From the few shinobi that were his son's age that he had observed so far, they were doing a fine job. He knew his generation wouldn't have to be the main protectors of the village for much longer.

"Umm Shikaku-san…" One of the genin standing behind Shikaku meekly spoke up. The elder Nara turned around to see a young Hyuga genin.

"What is it?"

"The strike force seems to have split up. Your son and his team are fighting who I believe to be Asuma Sarutobi, and the Naruto's team and the Hokage are surrounded on every side. They're barely moving forward at all."

"I see… Thank you Hyuga-san." Shikaku nodded gratefully to the young genin. _I can understand why they would split up that way… Shikamaru's team knows Asuma the best so they can handle him the most efficiently. But I'm worried about the remainder of the strike force, if they stop moving it's only a matter of time before they get overwhelmed…_

"I guess it can't be helped then." Shikaku muttered as he pulled a flare scroll out of his pocket. "It's time the allied forces go all in!"

Shikaku threw the scroll up in the air and it exploded in an array of dazzling blue fireworks.

* * *

The Raikage stood outside the battlefield; he hated having to wait like this. This Kabuto was working with the Akatsuki, the same Akatsuki who went after his brother, and the same Akatsuki that wrecked havoc on the world. A would much rather have charged straight into the battle.

But he had to admit, that the boy with the lazy look on his face from Konoha had developed a sound strategy, so here he was…waiting for the signal. It was still weird for him, to be preparing to enter a war even though his country wasn't being directly attacked. Even more so…him entering a war to defend Konoha.

"Raikage-sama, there's the signal." His general Darui observed lazily. A felt a surge of excitement course through his veins. Finally… battle.

"ALRIGHT EVERYONE! LET'S GO DESTROY THESE BASTARDS!" A roared as he charged forward, followed closely by his army.

* * *

Onoki stood at the front of his army peering into the distance as Konoha, Suna and Kiri forces threw themselves against the undead forces that Kabuto had summoned. He snorted at the thought of what he was about to do.

He was about to lead Iwa forces into battle to aid Konoha. The same Konoha that produced the Yellow Flash, a name which still causes some Iwa shinobi to shake in fear to this day…

"Oy Oji-chan, that's our cue." Kurotuschi called out in a completely calm tone. If someone who had no idea what was going on were to listen only to the girl's voice they would think the Iwa forces were standing outside of Konoha for a giant picnic.

Onoki sighed as he levitated off the ground. "I guess we should go save those kids then eh?" Onoki shot off into the air with his army closely following him on the ground.

* * *

Naruto blocked a kick from an ex-Iwa shinobi and quickly slammed a rasengan into the undead man's chest. He watched out of the corner of his eye as Kakashi blocked an undead Kiri shinobi's katana with a kunai before forcing the undead man backwards and quickly.

"Doton: Dosekiryu" Kakashi calmly called out and shot an Earth dragon at the zombie forcing it backwards.

"Tch, this is getting annoying." Tsunade complained as she threw a powerful elbow into the gut of an undead kunoichi wearing a kumo forehead protector, causing the undead girl to rocket backwards as her body skidded across the ground.

"We might have to pull back soon; we're going to get overwhelmed if we just stay her like this." Kakashi added as he sent another zombie flying with a roundhouse kick to the side of its head.

"Shikamaru said it's important that we at least pressure Kabuto." Sai observed calmly while decapitating a revived shinobi with a Konoha forehead protector on. "If we pull back now and give Kabuto the momentum, it could lose this battle for us."

"If we stay here we're dead." Sakura growled. She cast a genjutsu on an incoming wave of Kabuto's undead puppets causing them to stop their charge and start attacking each other.

"We just need to give them a little more time." Naruto said. "We're so close." To emphasize his point Naruto caught the fist of a particularly large man who was a kiri nin when he was still alive and roughly pulled the man off his feet, swinging him around as a giant human club.

The signal that the remaining strike force members had been waiting for finally went off, causing them all to sigh in relief as they heard the Raikage's battle cry.

"About time…" Tsunade muttered. The sound of battle came from the very back end of Kabuto's army causing the zombies swarming Team 7 and Tsunade to pause and try to figure out what was causing the commotion. They're temporary distraction was all Naruto needed.

"LET'S GO!" Naruto yelled as he led his team towards the very man who claimed to be inspired by him.

_We're going to end this now Kabuto… We're going to take you out._ Naruto thought determinately.

* * *

Onoki floated high above the battlefield as he stared at a man with long blonde hair sitting on top of a clay bird.

"Pathetic." Onoki spat. "You were so strong, and now after some kid from Konoha killed you you're back as nothing more than a puppet."

"I went out in a beautiful bang un!" Deidara retorted. "There's no way Sasuke could've survived my masterpiece. Just like there's no way you're going to survive my new one!

Onoki grinned devilishly. "Deidara… don't tell me you've forgotten how terrifying I am."

* * *

Kabuto swore as forces from Kumo and Iwa suddenly started attacking his flank. He had no idea they were even close to the area.

"It looks like your plan is failing," The man standing to his left said with a smirk. "And Naruto's getting closer. You might as well drop this jutsu and surrender."

Kabuto turned to the man and gave him a sick smile.

"Ah ah ah Yondaime-sama, that's what you're here for. Naruto won't stand a chance."

* * *

War! This chapter was more focused on the frantic charge of the strike force, so we really didn't get to see too much of the rest of the battle. Death is coming next chapter, not to any main characters, or secondary characters (most likely), but it's coming as the rest of the battle is going to get some more attention and we're going to see some more names we recognize pop up on the bad guys' side.

The battle between Onoki and Deidara will not be written in full and most of it will take place off screen. I just have too many fights going on to include it fully.

All of the fights have not started, and we will be seeing more of Lee's fight with Kakuzu next chapter.

Anywho... Please do review and see you next time =)

**Jutsu List:**

Hakkesho Kaiten- Heavenly Spin

Hakke Kusho- Eight Trigrams: Empty Palm

Hakke Rokujuyon Sho- Eight Trigrams: Sixty-Four Palms

Juho Soshiken- Gentle Step: Twin Lion Fists

Doton: Dosekiryu- Earth Release: Earth Dragon


	10. Psychological Warfare

__Hiya! No I did not forget about this story, and no, I have no intentions of discontinuing it! Moving on...

Minor side note- this story was supposed to follow the same model as _A Jinchuriki's Husk_ and only be a 10 chapter story. Well, as you'll be able to tell after reading this chapter, the story aint finished! It looks like I'm going to go two over. One chapter to wrap up the major fights in this giant zombie vs. shinobi battle, and then one chapter to set the third and final part of this series up.

* * *

**Echo Uchiha**: =)

**kidloco**: In the first story it was explained that Minato outsmarted the Shinigami and escaped with all of the Kage's souls into heaven. Not the most feasible explanation, but Minato and Kushina were both needed for these first two stories, so it had to do.

**saveme57**: Thanks =) And Minato vs. Naruto round two should be fun!

**airnaruto45**: Danke!

**Classified**: Thanks for the kind words and glad you enjoy my stories =) Naruto has fought Minato before (and he got his ass kicked), but he's come a long way since the last time he fought Minato. So we shall see!

**wingedmercury**: Glad you liked the chapter! And character death makes me sad, I tend to shy away from it when I can so don't expect any in this story. For the third and final part of my Jinchuriki series there _will_ be character death. And I was really happy you enjoyed the Mizukage. I wanted to do her thing in the manga where she totally mishears something and threatens to kill Ao, but it turned out to be a lot more difficult than I thought! Mad props to Kishi for being able to pull that out of his hat whenever he wants to in the manga!

**panda-kun**: Epic father son fight? Oh yeah, there will be an epic father son fight =P Admittingly, there will be more of the epic father son fight in the next chapter than there is in this one!

**Toasty Warrior**: Kabuto is indeed a dirty bastard. But one of the things we all love about Naruto, who generally tends to respond well to difficult situations and rise straight to the occasion =)

**happy everday life**: I don't have Sakura call Naruto "Naruto-kun" very often? Glad you enjoyed the Team 8/Team Gai vs. NaruSaku fight scene. But as you may have discovered with further reading, there are no more. There's no time, there's a war to fight and zombies to smack =)

**Jozern**: Hidan did kill Asuma, I've reread that twenty times trying to figure out what I was going for with that sentence, but still don't know. I should probably get around to editing it sooner than later. As for the Yondaime, in the first story, it was explained that Minato outsmarted the Shinigami and escaped with the rest of the kages into heaven. As I said above, it's not the most feasible thing ever, but Minato and Kushina both have important roles to play in these first two stories so it did the trick.

**Nutt Man 117**: I was annoyed by Chouji faltering in the manga too, but I could see why Kishi did it. But I obviously didn't choose to follow his lead =) But I'm glad to hear you liked the fights. More chaotic fighting in this chapter! (And yeah, Ino is my second favorite kunoichi too, she's just fun =P)

**Princess of the White Wolves**: Glad you like the story and hope you enjoy this chapter!

**kyuubifan**: Wow,that's some high praise. Wilkins75 puts together some very high quality stories. It's an honor to be compared to him! Thanks and glad you're enjoying the story!

**Shandrial**: Glad you enjoyed the chapter! Yeah, it was explained in the first story. You might have forgotten it because it was a bit...unlikely we'll say. Minato outsmarted the Shinigami and escaped to heaven with all of the kage's souls. So that's how he can be summoned back. And the Mei convo was actually the most difficult part of that chapter to write of all things. I have new respect for Kishi each time he pulls one of those out, it was a lot more difficult than I thought it would be! And Naruto has a tendency to say random lines that make things awesome!

**Gogo 2011**: Glad you're enjoying the story thus far. I didn't update soon, but I updated! Better late than never...right?

**Raptor2001**: Well... I took my time on this one =P

**Lilarcor**: /e salutes

**Mathew**: Thanks for the praise, and here is more of the story! Enjoy!

**SuperNeos2**: You're close =)

**NPCrusader**: Does this count as soon?

* * *

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or else I would be filthy stinking rich and Sasuke wouldn't be such a crazy effin' psychopath right now! I mean yeesh! Did anyone else read the latest chapter? I could just see Sasuke rubbing his hands together, cackling evilly and stroking the head of some fluffy white cat with unnaturally pointy ears!

Anywho... Onwards we go. Please do enjoy _A Jinchuriki's Strength_: Chapter 10 - Psychological Warfare

* * *

_I can't believe I used to dream about this…_ Konohamaru thought to himself as he dodged a blast of lighting that the strange thread monster he was fighting shot out of its mouth at him. He leaped backwards to get out of the way of a follow up attack as his mind continued taking in the horrific sights around him.

He and his friends had never openly wished for a war, but they always dreamed of fighting in one. To him and his friends, wars were where legends were made. They fantasized about being the big hero of some war, which would cement their names in history.

But now being in this horrific battle, Konohamaru understood why all of the adults were so grim about war. This was horrible. From the corner of his eye, Konohamaru had seen fellow Konoha nin get their throats slashed, burned to a crisp by a fire jutsu, crushed beneath an earth jutsu…

In this battle, Konohamaru had seen more blood than he had his entire short life thus far… He was fortunate that he hadn't seen anyone he knew get killed yet, but that didn't make the deaths he was witnessing any easier. He knew that each Konoha nin he saw get killed had people who cared about him or her.

Konohamaru had been devastated when his grandfather and uncle died, and each time he saw another Konoha nin die, he couldn't help but think of all the people who were going to be feeling that same empty sadness he had.

His musing was interrupted as a wood dome suddenly surrounded him. Shortly after, he heard a "thunk" as some sort of jutsu slammed into the dome. The dome retracted and Konohamaru was greeted to the sight of an angry Yamato.

"Stay focused Konohamaru!" The older nin barked. "Naruto won't be happy with me if I let you die. If you can't focus on this fight, then go back into the village."

_Naruto…_ Konohamaru peered in the direction where the man who inspired him to be great was likely barreling towards Kabuto to end this entire battle.

"I don't need to go back." Konohamaru stated in a strong voice. "Naruto nii-chan wouldn't run, I won't either. Thanks for the save Yamato-taicho."

Yamato peered at the young boy. His eyes bore a look Yamato had seen in Naruto's eyes many times. Yamato personally didn't know the boy well, but he knew of his importance to Naruto. He was determined to keep this young boy safe for the sake of his former underling.

"Feel free to step in any time you two want to help!" An annoyed female voice called out. Yamato instantly snapped into action as he looked over to see two of the thread-monsters ganging up on Tenten, a girl close to Naruto's age.

"Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu!" Yamato's arm transformed into giant trees which he quickly sent at one of Kakuzu's thread monsters. The creature jumped backwards to dodge the attack, but Yamato gave chase with his technique, and corralled it back towards Tenten who had a scimitar in her hand.

As the creature neared her, Tenten took a swipe, but it leaped over her just in the nick of the time to dodge her deadly blow.

"RASENGAN!" It's jump however left it defenseless to dodge Konohamaru who had summoned a kage bunshin while Yamato was corralling the creature so he could strike with one of Naruto's favorite attacks.

"ALRIGHT! ONE DOWN!" Konohamaru cheered. He looked around to see how the rest of his fellow shinobi were doing in their battles and instantly wished he hadn't. He looked at a man who couldn't have been older than 20 just as one Kabuto's undead shinobi's decapitated him with a katana.

It was a gruesome sight that Konohamaru wished he never had to see… Because it was something he would never be able to unsee.

Before he could react, he felt an arm roughly grab onto him and leap away with him in tow. Just as he prepared to launch a counterattack against whoever grabbed him, a wind explosion went off where he had been standing, courtesy of another one of Kakuzu's thread creatures.

"Pay attention kid!" Tenten snapped.

"Right… thanks." Konohamaru muttered. That was twice his two allies had saved him in a little under five minutes. War was gruesome, he never wanted to experience this again. But he couldn't let himself think about that right now.

Naruto was always deadly focused in a battle, and Konohamaru needed to emulate that. His opponent was far too powerful for him to be able to afford to think about anything other than his…

"KONOHAMARU DODGE!"

Konohamaru leaped high in the air at Tenten's yell just as a blast of fire went beneath his feet. He quickly summoned a kage bunshin and had it throw him away from the fiery blast.

Konohamaru landed and eyed his two remaining opponents. He knew with the help of Naruto's captain, and one of Naruto's friends they would be able to handle these creatures. He was tempted to take one last glance at the surrounding battlefield, but he refrained.

Now was the time to fight, not reflect on the horrors of war. He would beat these monsters, and help finish this horrible battle. He would chide his younger self for ever fantasizing about being some big hero in a war later.

* * *

"CHOUJI NOW!" Shikamaru yelled. His teammate launched an enlarged fist at their deceased sensei, and just as Shikamaru expected, Asuma dodged. But that was perfect, Shikamaru knew his sensei's fighting style quite well, and he knew each of Asuma's tendencies.

Like his natural reaction to dodge to the right, which was the exact spot Shikamaru had Ino throw one of Asuma's old chakra knifes that had channeled his shadow into. As he predicted Asuma landed right near the knife.

"Kage Nui no Jutsu!" Shadowy tendrils sprang forth from the chakra blade and wrapped around Asuma to restrain him.

"Nice work Shikamaru!" Asuma grinned. "I didn't even see you throw that!"

"That's because I threw it when I threw all those kunai at you Asuma-sensei!" Ino grinned.

"So those were just a distraction, I was wondering what you were hoping to accomplish with those." Asuma smiled. "You three performed admirably. But you aren't done yet."

"What do you mean? Shikamaru has you restrained Asuma-sensei!" Chouji pointed out.

"What did you miss Shikamaru?" Asuma asked his prized pupil.

"Damnit!" Shikamaru ducked and felt a foot pass through his ponytail. He leaped to his right and twisted around in mid-air to examine his new opponent. "We're not just fighting you." Shikamaru finally pointed out his mistake.

"That's correct, now what are you going to do Shikamaru?" Asuma yelled as he started running towards Chouji. The newcomer to the battle wasn't anyone important, Kabuto obviously just sent it to prolong Team 10's fight… But the undead ninja currently charging after him still needed to be dealt with.

He dug his feet into the ground, and formed his favorite hand seal.

"Kagemane no Jutsu!" Shikamaru's shadow quickly shot out and restrained the new entrant to the fight. Shikamaru shifted his body and jumped so that the undead shinobi jumped directly in front of Asuma.

"Chouji go!"

Shikamaru dropped his Kage Mane no Jutsu just as Asuma knocked the undead shinobi out of his way with a powerful haymaker.

"CHOUJI!" Shikamaru yelled. Chouji stared at Asuma with a look of uncertainty in his eyes before yelling,

"Bubun Baika no Jutsu!" He swung an enlarged fist at Asuma, but the slight hesitation gave Asuma the time needed to dodge the attack.

"You're not going to beat me if you hesitate Chouji!" Asuma yelled as he landed a distance behind Chouji. He again sprinted towards Chouji, but was forced to leap back when he heard his only female student's voice yell,

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

"You snuck up on me there Ino." Asuma complimented as Ino stood up off the ground, her attack having missed.

Shikamaru leapt to Chouji's side. "Are you ok Chouji?"

"I'm fine." Chouji muttered.

"I know this is weird fighting Asuma like this Chouji, but we can't afford to hesitate. He's a powerful opponent, and he's even more difficult to fight thanks to the edo tensei. Our reinforcements are arriving soon and they will be able to seal Asuma away, but we need to have him restrained by the time we get there. You, Ino and I know Asuma's battle tendencies, so we can instinctively dodge his attacks to a degree. That added along with our flawless teamwork is what allows us to fight Asuma relatively safely. If he is unrestrained when our reinforcements arrive, he might be able to catch one of them off guard with his speed, or his wind chakra attacks. Do you understand?"

"You're saying we need to finish this fight now." Chouji noted.

"Exactly. So are you ready?"

Chouji nodded his head. "Let's do this."

Shikamaru smiled, he could see determination in his friend's eyes.

"Good. We're going to show Asuma-sensei our new Ino-Shika-Chou formation." Shikamuru announced. He glanced around and noticed two new edo-tensei soldiers charging into their battle and smirked.

_Perfect._ "Ino! Let's finish this!"

Ino grinned at her teammate and leaped over to him so they were back to back. "Ending the fight already eh? Are you ready Chouji?"

Chouji stared at Asuma with a look of complete confidence in his eyes. "Of course. Let's put Asuma-sensei to rest."

"Right!" Ino yelled.

"Get ready Ino…" Shikamaru muttered as the two undead shinobi neared the trio. "NOW!"

Just as the two shinobi approached them, Ino yelled,

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!" Her jutsu connected with both of the zombie ninja simultaneously as her body slumped backwards and leaned against Shikamaru's back. Now in control of the two undead shinobi, Ino directed them to attack Asuma from either side.

_I'm up! _Shikamaru thought as he watched his sensei prepare to fight off the Ino-controlled attackers.

"Kage Nui no Jutsu!" Shikamaru shot his shadow tendrils towards Asuma, which forced Asuma to leap backwards to dodge. Shikamaru gave chase with his tendrils, and Ino positioned the undead shinobi so they blocked off all but one avenue of escape to Asuma.

Shikamaru corralled Asuma to that escape and smirked as Chouji's giant fist connected with Asuma's face. Asuma slammed straight through a tree and Shikamaru quickly restrained him with his shadow threads.

"Impressive." Asuma congratulated. "Your Ino-Shika-Chou formation was perfect, your timing was flawless, and your finishing strike was filled with confidence Chouji. I'm proud of you three. I assume since you went to all that trouble your reinforcements are going to be here soon Shikamaru?"

"Shikamaru!" A feminine voice that Shikamaru recognized quite well called. He smiled at his sensei.

"You could say that." Shikamaru turned to the voice. "Yo, Temari. Would you mind having one of your cloth style users bind Asuma-sensei here?"

"Too troublesome to do yourself?" Temari teased. She was relieved to find Shikamaru relatively unhurt. She recognized that his plan was the best possible plan, but she still worried about her new boyfriend charging straight into the heart of Kabuto's army. She was especially worried when she saw his signal. He told her he would use it only in an emergency, and feared the worst when she saw it.

"You know me too well." Shikamaru chuckled.

Temari nodded to one of the Suna nin who accompanied her who went approached Asuma.

"You three have grown impressively, I can't tell you how proud I am of all of you. You have officially surpassed me, there is nothing left that I could teach you. I hope all three of you find happiness. Goodbye Ino, Chouji, Shikamaru."

Asuma nodded to the Suna nin who went to work binding him to take him out of the fight.

_Thank you Asuma-Sensei…_ All three members of Team Asuma thought at the same time.

"So what's the plan now lazy bones?" Temari asked. "You three can't possibly hope to fight your way through Kabuto's army to catch back up to Naruto."

"You're right, we can't. Asuma delayed us for too long. The path that Naruto blazed towards Kabuto has long since closed off with new enemies." Shikamaru confirmed.

"So what are we going to do?" Ino asked.

"We're going to join the rest of our forces in battle and have faith in Naruto, Sakura, Kakashi, Tsunade and Sai. They'll win."

"You're right." Chouji grinned. "Naruto and Sakura are amazing now, they won't let themselves be defeated."

"Oh great." Ino groaned, causing Temari and her teammates to look at her with a questioning look on their faces. "Well Sakura is the best with genjutsus out of that group now. She's probably going to be the one who gets Kabuto to drop the edo-tensei. I'm never going to hear the end of this…"

Her gathered allies chuckled at Ino's complaint. But they didn't have time to enjoy the light-hearted comment; a battle was being fought around them.

Shikamaru looked around and examined the battlefield, searching for the position that needed the most support. He caught sight of a group of Konoha ANBU badly outnumbered by zombie ninjas.

"There! Let's hurry!" Shikamaru yelled out. Temari's squad and Shikamaru's squad followed after them as they hurried to prevent more Konoha blood from being spilled.

* * *

To say Kabuto was unhappy would be an understatement. This battle should have been an easy victory. Instead, his forces were being beaten back, and some were even being bound and sealed. He didn't have any sacrifices on hand to kill to bring back the ones sealed by Konoha's sealing scrolls…

The surprise addition of Suna and Kiri to the battle had been a setback, but ultimately Kabuto would have been able to turn the tide of battle again in his favor. But having Kumo and Oto attack his army's flank forced him to shift a sizeable number of his forces to the back of the battlefield to battle the two villages' armies. Ninja forces from the five great ninja villages were now surrounding his army on every side.

And to make matters worse, Naruto's group was making alarming progress.

"You were a fool to think you could defeat Konoha Kabuto." One of the revived shinobi he kept near him stated.

"I haven't lost yet Jiraiya-sama." Kabuto spat.

"My son is going to stop you. You realize this by now, don't you?" Another undead shinobi pointed out with a smirk on her face.

"Your son isn't going to stop anyone Kushina-san." Kabuto sneered. "I was hoping to hold you three back for longer than this, but I suppose it can't be helped. It's time for you to enter this battle, and I have the perfect opponent for you."

"If you think you can make us kill Naruto you're sadly mistaken." The third revived shinobi Kabuto had kept back said.

"As if you'll have a choice Yondaime-sama." Kabuto chuckled. "But he's getting close now, too close for comfort. I think it's time for a touching family reunion, don't you?"

"It won't make a difference. I trained Naruto, that kid will find a way to beat us and stop you." Jiraiya said.

"Oh I'm sure Naruto-kun will have a tough time fighting his family and his beloved teacher. He's strong, but his weakness is his emotions. I doubt the rest of his companions will have an easy time fighting any of you either. They all care about you too much." Kabuto sneered. "Now get going."

Against their wills, Jiraiya, Kushina and Minato sprinted towards the direction where Naruto was charging.

* * *

"Duck Naruto!" Sakura yelled. Naruto didn't even bother trying to figure out what Sakura wanted him to duck for, he just ducked his head. The second he did he felt a chakra chain whoosh over his head. He looked over to see the chain wrap around an undead shinobi who had been in the process of preparing a powerful fire jutsu before the chain wrapped around him. He looked completely shocked as the pink chain secured him. But he didn't have long to be shocked. Sakura used the chain to fling him high up in the air and then sent him flying away from the battlefield.

"Jeez Sakura-chan, that one is probably going to land in Suna." Naruto joked as he batted away what used to be an Oto kunoichi with his frog kumite.

"Well he was trying to catch us off guard with some kind of powerful jutsu!" Sakura huffed indignantly. Naruto found it amusing that even now, Sakura was still embarrassed about her inhumane strength at times. Kami save Naruto if he made the mistake of referring to her strength as "monsterous."

"We've got to be getting close to Kabuto now. What's our progress looking like Naruto?" Kakashi asked as he ducked under the swipe of a deceased Konoha nin, and repaid the man with swift knee to the gut, and then followed his knee up with a quick uppercut before finally launching a powerful punch into the zombie's chest sending it sprawling backwards.

"We're definitely close. Let me check on…" Naruto paused mid sentence and skidded to a complete halt as three figures suddenly appeared in front of them.

"Hey what's the deal? Why are we stopping?" Tsunade asked, but Naruto offered no reply. He just stared at the three figures in shock. Tsunade followed his eyes and felt her heart drop through her chest.

_How the hell did Kabuto revive them?_ Tsunade swore.

"I see Kabuto brought you three back as well." Kakashi noted.

"He did. But I wish he hadn't." Minato replied in a grave sounding voice.

"Naruto, are you ok?" Sakura asked softly as she placed a hand on her fiance's shoulder. He hadn't made a sound since laying eyes on their newest opponents. But he offered no reply.

"Naruto?" Sakura asked again.

"Naruto sweetie, you need to be strong now…" Kushina started, but she was interrupted by her son, who suddenly sported a giant grin.

"Pervy Sage! Mom! Dad! I'm so glad to see you guys again!"

"Naruto… we're happy to see you too, but Kabuto sent us here to kill you. Now isn't a time to be smiling." Minato warned.

"I know I know." Naruto replied, but the giant foxy grin didn't leave his face. "But I'm still glad to see you. Especially you Dad!"

"Naruto, I don't think you understand…" Minato sighed.

"Last time we fought… you kicked my ass!" Naruto went on, ignoring his father's words. "But that was so long ago. I've come so far since then, and now I can finally show you. Mom, Dad, Pervy Sage… I can finally show you how strong I've become! I can prove to you all that I'm finally strong enough to accept the destiny you gave me!"

Everyone couldn't help but smile. Naruto could always be counted on for his sunny optimism, even in a grave situation as the one they were currently in.

"Is that so?" Minato retorted. "So you're going to kick my ass now, is that what I'm hearing?"

"Damn straight!" Naruto boasted. "I've mastered the hirashin, and I've almost completely mastered sage mode! You don't stand a chance!"

"I see you're already in it this time, which should make our fight more interesting than the last, that's for sure." Minato noted. The last time they fought, Minato refused to give his son the time he needed to enter sage mode and easily defeated Naruto with his superior knowledge of the hirashin.

"All right, you guys all go ahead and kick Kabuto's ass. I'll handle these three." Naruto stated.

"WHAT?" Sakura yelled. "No way! I'm not leaving you to fight your parents and Jiraiya by yourself! You and I are a team!"

"You'll have your hands full with your parents, let me take Jiraiya." Tsunade added.

"But…"

"These are difficult opponents Naruto. You're strong, but we'll all help." Kakashi interrupted Naruto before he could protest with a one-eyed smile.

"No Kakashi. Shikamaru said it's important we put pressure on Kabuto. Naruto and Sakura can handle Minato and Kushina, and I can handle Jiraiya. You and Sai need to continue on." Tsunade ordered.

"She's right Kakashi-sensei." Naruto added. "I think I would be fine by myself, but you know how stubborn Baa-chan and Sakura can be. It looks like it's going to be on you and Sai to take care of Kabuto. From what I'm sensing, it looks like my parents and Pervy Sage are Kabuto's last line of defense. You two should be able to make it to Kabuto without any difficulties.

"But…"

"Go Kakashi, that's an order." Tsunade interrupted Kakashi's protest.

"Hai Hokage-sama... Good luck you three. Let's go Sai." Sai nodded and followed after Kakashi as they ran around Kabuto's final guard.

"Hey Hime, why don't we take our fight away from here? Let these two couples have their space." Jiraiya suggested.

"Fine by me, follow me you pervert." Tsunade smirked before turning to Naruto and Sakura. "I believe in you two, don't let me down."

"We won't!" Sakura replied. "Good luck Shishou." Tsunade merely nodded and started to the west. Jiraiya promptly followed after her.

"Sakura-chan… I know we're a team, but leave my father to me." Naruto whispered quietly enough so his parents wouldn't be able to hear.

"Why the hell would I do that?" Sakura hissed angrily. "We're most effective as a team!"

"Against normal opponents. But my father knows the hirashin. If he figures out that I put a seal on you then we would be severely disadvantaged. His speed matches my own. He's too fast for you to track, and he's too fast for me to safely protect you." Naruto explained.

Sakura wanted to protest, but she knew Naruto was right. Sure she could argue that Naruto put a custom seal on her chest… which was true. But the Yondaime was known for being a genius. She had no doubt Minato would quickly figure out how it worked.

"Just be careful ok?" Sakura finally relented. Naruto smiled at her.

"You too Sakura." He turned his attention to his dad. "Alright Dad! YOU AND ME, ONE ON ONE! TIME TO GET REVENGE FOR WHEN YOU KICKED MY ASS WHEN I WAS DEAD!"

Minato simply chuckled at his son's enthusiasm. "Don't get too confident Naruto."

"So I guess that means you're my opponent, eh Sakura?" Kushina noted.

"That's right Kushina. I still owe you for helping me beat Sasuke, but that's not going to stop me from kicking your ass, SHANAROO!" Sakura crowed causing the older woman to chuckle.

"I like that spirit. I'm so glad Naruto found you."

"I'm starting to lose control over my body Kushina… How about you?" Minato asked.

"Same."

"Alright then. Naruto, Sakura, get ready because here we come!"

* * *

"Your taijutsu is impressive for a kid, but you'll need more than that to beat me. Is that all you can do?" Kakuzu sneered as he blocked one of Lee's kicks with a blackened arm. "You can never beat me with taijutsu when I have this earth technique."

Lee put a safe distance between him and his opponent. He had been attacking Kakuzu with everything he had for about ten minutes and nothing seemed to be working. His earth technique practically made him impervious to physical attacks.

"You should run." Kakuzu taunted. "Some foolish ninja who only focuses on taijutsu will never stand a chance against me."

Lee clenched his fist in anger. Kakuzu reminded him of a more arrogant version of Neji when they were younger.

"DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE POWER OF HARD WORK!" Lee roared as he sprinted forward. _I will defeat this opponent and then go on to defeat many more!_

"You just don't get it." Kakuzu smirked. He made no effort to defend himself as Lee launched a powerful roundhouse kick towards his head. The kick connected, but Kakuzu was able to stop the momentum of Lee's foot with his blackened head.

"My technique makes my skin harder than iron. It's hopeless. You could train for 100 years in taijutsu and you still wouldn't be able to beat me. You're not a worthy opponent for me. After I kill you, I will not be adding your heart to my collection."

Lee caught Kakuzu in the jaw with a powerful haymaker, but again, his head didn't even move. He leaped backwards to put more distance between himself and Kakuzu. _I didn't want to open any gates this early in the battle, but it looks like I have no choice._

Lee glanced over to see how Tenten's fight was going. She had been joined by Yamato and Konohamaru, and the three had defeated two of the strange thread-like creatures that jumped out of Kakuzu's body at the beginning of his fight. He could hold back and wait for them to finish their fight. Yamato used to be Naruto's captain, he had a lot of powerful jutsus which might be able to break through Kakuzu's defense…

"What's wrong boy? Scared? Understandable. You're not even a real shinobi and yet you're fighting an immortal."

Lee glowered at Kakuzu. "Just because I don't use any jutsus doesn't mean I'm not a shinobi." He proclaimed. "I will show you the power that I've worked hard to acquire!" He yelled.

He opened his first gate and charged forward.

* * *

"Come on Tsunade! You can do better than that!" Jiraiya yelled as he easily dodged Tsunade's strike. They had only been fighting for a short while, but Tsunade was holding back with a troubled look on her face.

"Shut up pervert…" Tsunade muttered as she lunged forward with a clumsy kick. Jiraiya easily dodged and on his body's own accord and caught Tsunade upside the jaw with a quick kick which sent her sprawling to the ground.

"Stop holding back Tsunade! I can't control myself!" Jiraiya yelled. "FIGHT ME!"

Tsunade stared up at her old teammate, and regret filled her entire being. She always pushed him away when he was alive, and by the time she finally figured out how she felt about him, by the time she finally realized what a mistake she was making in pushing him away… It was too late.

Now here he was again. How was she supposed to fight him? She thought she could handle it… But it was proving far more difficult to fight the man who had always been there for her than she imagined.

Jiraiya tried to stop his body as it charged forward to deliver another punishing blow to Tsunade, but it was useless. He punched her square in the face just as she returned to her feet which sent her hurtling backwards from the force of the punch. She slowly picked herself up, and looked at him with a face full of regret.

Jiraiya had watched Tsunade cry after he died from his place above, but he still found it hard to believe that Tsunade couldn't fight him. But whatever the reason, this was a problem. He was going to kill her if Tsunade didn't snap out of it soon… An idea suddenly popped into his mind. One that was sure to work, and one that made him thankful the edo tensei prevented him from feeling pain.

"By the way Hime, I gotta say, you look good!" Jiraiya said with a lecherous grin.

"Oh shut up." Tsunade snorted, although a small smile found its way on her face. Leave it to Jiraiya to compliment her even in the middle of a deadly battle. She missed his compliments…

"I mean _really _good." Jiraiya continued.

"I get it Jiraiya, you think I'm beautiful." Tsunade sighed, her small smile had no transformed into a large smile.

"Think? I know! I always knew you were hot, but now that I've seen you naked, holy crap! Your breasts look even better than I ever imagined! And your butt, it's way nicer than any I ever peeked on in the hot springs! It was totally worth dying to finally see you naked!"

The smile that was on Tsunade's face was instantly replaced by a furious scowl.

"Jiraiya…" Tsunade growled dangerously as a tick mark appeared on her head. Here she thought he was just complimenting her… But he was just being a damn pervert! He would never change!

"HOW DARE YOU PEEK ME ON ME YOU PERVERTED BASTARD!" Tsunade roared as she lunged forward. She caught Jiraiya in the chest with a powerful punch that shattered his ribs.

_Yep, I'm definitely glad I don't feel pain anymore._ Jiraiya grinned as his body was sent rocketing backwards until it skidded across the ground and eventually came to a stop. He didn't have time to react as a shadow was descending upon him.

Tsunade's foot came crashing down on his face breaking his nose. _Maybe I overdid it a little… _Jiraiya thought. _But it worked, she's now actually in this fight. I don't have to worry about killing her now._ Tsunade lifted her foot up to deliver another angry stomp to Jiraiya's head, but his body rolled out of the way and launched a counter punch.

Tsunade caught his punch, crushed his knuckles in her grip and then delivered another punishing punch to his face, which sent his body skipping across the ground in the direction it just came from.

"Man, a woman with your breasts and you can move that quickly. Impressive Hime." Jiraiya grinned as his body regenerated itself.

"You… You… PERVERT!" Tsunade yelled. She charged again, but Jiraiya quickly flew through some hand signs.

"It's not going to be that easy this time Tsunade, Doton: Yomi Numa!"

As the words were leaving his mouth, Tsunade leaped into the air to avoid being trapped by Jiraiya's jutsu. She landed safely as the spot she had been running turned into a muddy swamp.

Tsunade paused as she considered her next plan of attack. Jiraiya had always been stronger than she was, and now that he was using jutsus that meant he was serious. She didn't think the toad sages would help him enter partial sage mode in his current state, but she couldn't count it out. If he started stalling for time she would definitely have to interrupt him.

Jiraiya noticed that Tsunade had paused. _She's probably trying to develop some sort of strategy to take me down… She knows I've always been stronger than her… But if she takes much longer I might use a more powerful jutsu… She needs to keep me on the defensive!_

"You know Hime, I don't think I've said enough about just how beautiful your butt is. I mean, I'm sure you get ogled for those wonderful breasts of yours all the time… But that butt of yours deserves attention too!"

All thoughts of a plan instantly left Tsunade's mind. She only felt a blind rage.

"YOU'RE LUCKY YOU'RE DEAD JIRAIYA OR I WOULD KILL YOU!" Tsunade yelled as she ran towards Jiraiya, her fist glowing with chakra.

* * *

"GATSUGA!" Kiba yelled as he launched his attack at Neji's father. He had quickly found Hinata after he finished his first battle to find her and Neji fighting a Hyuga that looked a lot like Hinata's dad, which he later found out was Neji's father.

The three of them had been able to keep the undead Hyuga on the defensive, but they were facing an enemy with infinite stamina. They were starting to tire out, while Neji's dad was still perfectly fine. His body regenerated itself after every attack they threw at him.

"The way you hold yourself, you've angled your body in a direction towards my niece. You care about her don't you?" The undead Hyuga asked Kiba.

"Of course I do!" Kiba yelled. "I care about Hinata a lot!"

"That's good. Now I apologize, but I'm losing control over my body again. I was hoping to give you three a bit more time to regain your breath, but this was the best I could do."

"It's fine Father." Neji replied. "We're ready."

"But for how long…" Hizashi countered with a sad smile.

"As long as it takes. Hinata, Kiba, back me up." Neji charged at his father, his face still set in an impassive mask. He was grateful for Hinata and Kiba's assistance. Neji was a stoic man, but he wasn't sure how long he would've been able to mentally handle fighting his father for long.

But with Hinata and Kiba's help, he knew they could win. They could hold off his father until his Uncle Hiashi arrived with someone who could bind him.

_We just need to buy some more time…_ Neji reminded himself as he launched a strike towards his father's face.

* * *

"Not bad Sakura!" Kushina complimented as she lost her balance thanks to Sakura creating a rift in the earth where she had been standing with a powerful stomp. Her body twisted in an attempt to regain its balance, but pink chains wrapped around her before she could properly react.

Sakura quickly tightened the chains around the woman who had taught them to her. She knew she didn't have to beat Kushina, she just had to hold her off until Kakashi got Kabuto to drop the edo tensei.

"You've improved since I helped you defeat Sasuke!" Kushina beamed in pride. "That timing with the chakra chains was impressive!"

"Thanks." Sakura blushed at her future mother-in-law's praise. "Naruto and I spent the past year doing nothing but training."

"I can tell. You two are a lot stronger. So is this your plan Sakura? To restrain me with your chakra chains?"

"I don't have to beat you; I only have to hold you off until Kakashi-sensei gets Kabuto to drop the edo tensei. This way we can both watch Naruto's fight, I think you'd like to see how far he's come."

"I would." Kushina sighed wistfully. "But unfortunately I don't have control of my body, so I'm going to have to hear about how far Naruto has come from Minato later. But I'm excited to see your improvement!"

"You won't have to get second hand information from Minato, you can't escape from these chains." Sakura pointed out.

"I wish that were true Sakura." Kushina frowned. "Ready yourself, because I'm coming after you again!"

"But how…" Sakura started to question when Kushina disappeared in a puff of smoke. "Damnit!"

Kushina reappeared and instantly flashed in front of Sakura with her fist cocked back. Sakura dodged and launched an elbow at the older woman's gut, but Kushina's body twisted in an odd way that Sakura had never seen in a taijutsu style before. She didn't have much time to consider the strange movement as Kushina's fist slammed into left cheek and sent her flying.

Sakura managed to regain her balance before she could fly too far. _What was that taijutsu style?_ Sakura wondered. Before she could ponder the mystery further, Kushina appeared in front of her in that weird style once again.

Sakura dodged the first strike, but Kushina twisted her leg as if she was balet dancing and caught Sakura in the side of the gut. Before the elder woman could do any more damage, Sakura stomped her foot down hard, sending a wave of earth crashing outward which forced Kushina to leap away from Sakura to get clear of the earth wave.

_Ok… So she has a unique taijutsu style… But she still is Naruto's mom, and from what the academy taught us, Minato was skilled in genjutsus. Maybe she is where Naruto gets his weakness to genjutsus from…_

Sakura's hands flew through a quick succession of hand signs as she prepared a genjutsu against her mother law. For some reason, she just knew this battle wasn't going to be that easy…

* * *

"That girl of yours sure is strong." Minata grinned as the earth trembled from one of Sakura's attacks.

"Yeah she is." Naruto returned his father's grin. "Mom's lucky she can't feel Sakura's attacks, her punches hurt!"

Minato chuckled. He and Naruto had been fighting for a little over five minutes now, but they were still able to hold a conversation. If a blind person were listening, they would have no idea father and son were currently locked in a battle to the death (well for Naruto anyways) from their conversation.

Minato tossed one of his three-pronged kunais at Naruto and flashed to it, but Naruto flashed to the kunai the second he did and caught Minato with his frog kumite which sent the deceased Hokage's body sprawling backwards.

"So have you, mom and Pervy Sage been watching me?" Naruto asked as he flashed in front the downed Hokage with a rasengan in his hand, which he promptly shoved into Minato's gut.

"We haven't been able to yet. The jutsus we used to help you guys last year prevented us from being able to watch the living world for a year. And when we were just allowed to view the living world again, Kabuto summoned us with the edo-tensei." Minato answered as he caught his son in the gut with a mule kick that sent Naruto high into the air.

Minato stood up with perfect ease, even though his body was still repairing itself from Naruto's rasengan. He took out a three-pronged kunai to throw at his son's body, but was surprised when it disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"A shadow clone?"

"It's over dad." Naruto's voice proclaimed confidently in his ear. Minato looked to his side to see his son's hand on his shoulder.

"You think it's going to be that easy eh?" Minato grinned. He tried to jab his elbow into Naruto's gut, but Naruto leaped backwards to dodge the strike.

"I invented this technique Naruto, don't think it will work on me." Minato said as he removed the seal Naruto placed on his shoulder.

Naruto's eyes widened. "How did you do that?"

"So you don't know how to remove a seal…" Minato noted.

"I can remove ones I place!"

Minato sighed. "I wish you hadn't told me that Naruto." His body now knew how to win the fight. It was the same strategy as he used to beat Naruto the first time they fought. Place the hirashin level two seal on him.

_Shit… now I can't let Dad touch me…_ Naruto mentally swore as his father charged him.

* * *

A huge explosion went off in the air above the battlefield as Kakashi and Sai sprinted towards Kabuto. As Naruto predicted, they had run into zero resistance thus far. It looked like the attack on Kabuto's army's flank forced him to send many of the troops he had protecting him to engage the Kumo and Oto forces.

"There he is Kakashi." Sai noted as Kabuto's figure became visible in the distance.

"Well, ready to end this battle Sai?" Kakashi asked as he flashed the pale artist a one-eyed smile.

* * *

Whew! Sorry, only the starts of the big fights this chapter. But don't worry, the next will provide plenty =)

I hope you enjoyed the chapter, please do review and see you next time!

**Jutsu List:**

Mokuton: Daijurin no Jutsu – Wood Release: Great Forest Technique

Kage Nui no Jutsu – Shadow Sewing Technique

Kagemane no Jutsu – Shadow Imitation Technique

Bubun Baika no Jutsu – Partial Expansion Jutsu

Shintenshin no Jutsu – Mind Body Switch Technique

Doton: Yomi Numa – Earth Release: Swamp of the Underworld


End file.
